Forever Gone
by Phx
Summary: As the senior class of Bayport High prepares to celebrate their graduation, they have no idea that their special night will be forever marred. While some things can be fixed…others thing are forever gone! Completed.


_This story takes place a month after "On Familiar Ground". And I apologize now for any spelling or grammatical errors but I don't have a beta for these stories and I don't catch everything!_

Forever Gone 

63-year-old Wilson Fitzpatrick sat in the Hardy living room enjoying a hot cup of coffee. It was going to be hard leaving this neighborhood. He had lived here for 15 years and had known the Hardy's since he moved in. His kids were a lot older then Fenton Hardy's boys and his daughter had often babysat for them when Joe and Frank were young.

But life never made any promises and 30 years after he had left Jamaica as a lad looking for adventure and fortune, he was going to return there. He had cancer and he was going home to die.

World-renowned Private Investigator, Fenton Hardy was the first person outside his own family that he told that he was leaving and his heart was warmed when the younger man expressed how sad he was going to be losing such a good neighbor as Wilson. And the old man saw it in his eyes and knew they weren't just words the detective was speaking to make him feel better.

"But that's not the only reason why I'm here", Wilson confessed after the mutual sentiments of missing each other were passed, "I wanted to talk to you about Rufus". His eyes flickered to the young black and white Border collie that was lying quietly at his feet. He had gotten Rufus three years ago and they had been inseparable since the first day.

Fenton gazed down at the dog that wagged his tail slightly as he heard his name and realized that for some reason he was the center of attention. Frank had watched the dog on a couple of occasions when Wilson had been away as the boys usually house sat for him whenever he was out of town or in the hospital.

"I can't take him with me", Fenton could see that this caused the old man great grief and at the same time he got a suspicion as to what this might be about, "And I was wondering…well…" Wilson faltered for a few moments, this was harder then he thought although he should have realized just how hard it would it.

This was Rufus – he loved the dog like a child, "Well…I wanted to give him to your boys. If you'd have him that is".

Laura paled slightly as Fenton grimaced. It was as he suspected.

Wilson, seeing their reactions, immediately regretted asking them, "I'm sorry…" but Fenton held up his hand to stop the apology.

"It's not that Wilson", Fenton said sighing and absently bending over to rub Rufus behind the ears for a few moments. Although it had been a long time ago, Fenton still missed having a dog around, "It's Joe".

Wilson was confused. He thought Joe liked Rufus. The boy had even taken Rufus with him jogging _once_, "Joe? I thought he liked dogs. Didn't you guys have one a long time ago?"

Fenton nodded as his mind was immediately flooded with the image of a young blond haired boy chasing a big black hairy mutt, "Hero."

_**phx**_

Unbeknownst to the adults in the living room, Joe had come into the kitchen and was just heading into the living room when he heard a name that send cold shivers down his spine and his heart palpitating – _Hero._

He knew it wasn't nice to eavesdrop but he couldn't make himself push open the door as he was paralyzed just hearing his father talk about it.

Hero was Joe's dog.

_**phx**_

"Hero was Joe's dog. He and that mutt were inseparable, " Fenton said as he reminiscenced fondly.

"Didn't he run away?" Wilson seemed to remember something about it. He had been working a lot at the time and didn't pay much attention to the happenings.

Fenton nodded, "Yeah. He and Joe went to the park and he got off his leash and ran away". Even as he said it, the detective was still dubious about it. He had been shocked when Joe told him what happened.

Hero fawned over both the boys and was very obedient. It seemed unthinkable that he hadn't come to Joe when he called him. But Joe said he didn't and Fenton had to believe him.

He found it even stranger when Joe refused to help look for the dog. Frank spent hours and days prowling the streets and calling the animal shelters, along with his parents, as Joe just sulked in his room and refused to talk about it.

Shaking his head, Fenton continued, "Since then Joe has been adamant about not having another dog. We even brought home a puppy from the pound a couple of months later to try and take his mind off the grief". Fenton sighed as he remembered how much a solemn and withdrawn stranger his younger son had become after the dog disappeared, "But it didn't work out too well".

_That's an understatement_, Laura thought flippantly as she recalled flying out of her bed at 1 am in the morning as her baby was sitting up in his bed shrieking hysterically for them to get rid of the dog.

The puppy was whimpering downstairs and Fenton had taken the dog to their friend, Con Riley's, the next day.

"And we have a cat", Fenton added as Brutus sat on the edge of the fireplace and watched them, his almond shaped yellow eyes taking in the old man and especially the dog with great interest.

Wilson nodded his head in understanding feeling bad for making the offer now that brought with it such painful memories for the family…although the cat was not an issue as Rufus was very good with other animals, as shown by his complete lack of interest in the attentive kitty, "I understand".

The old man went to stand up and sighed in defeat. He hated the idea of trying to find someone else for his beloved dog – least of all the pound. But it was beginning to look more and more like that now as none of his friend's could take the dog and his son traveled too much.

"Mr. Fitzpatrick?" Joe's voice startled the adults who had not known he was in the kitchen or heard him when he quietly opened the door and stepped into the living room.

"Joey?" Wilson turned around from where he now stood to look at the blond haired 17-year-old, "How are you doing?" He had not seen much of the boy much since Joe had returned home almost a month ago but he knew what had happened and was worried about him.

"I'm okay", Joe said suddenly feeling self conscious as everyone turned to look at him. Normally an extrovert, recent events had left the teen feeling somewhat uncomfortable as the center of attention…especially when his father was around. The family had slowly begun to rebuild itself but Joe and Fenton's relationship was still shaky and oft times shrouded in awkwardness. But they were both trying…sometimes too hard…but at least they were trying.

"Um…Mr. Fitz", Joe stammered suddenly unsure what to say but then his eyes locked on the light brown ones gazing up intently at him from the floor and he found the courage to try, "Maybe we could do a trial run or something…with Rufus I mean".

Laura and Fenton exchanged a glance before Fenton said quickly, "Are you sure son…I mean…"

"No it's okay Dad", Joe cut in before he lost his nerve, "I'm sure." In truth Joe was not as sure as he sounded as his heart thumped loudly in his ears and he had to focus on his breathing. But he liked Mr. Fitzpatrick and knew how much the dog meant to the old man. Besides Frank always enjoyed having the dog around.

A relived smile crinkled Wilson's face as he nodded at the boy who was turning into a fine young man, 'Thank you…I think that would be wonderful. But only if you don't mind…" he was still hesitant, not wanting to push.

Joe nodded his head briefly as he reached down to stroke the top of Rufus's head, "I'm sure", he repeated. As he straightened up, Wilson grabbed him in a gentle hug and the boy stiffened only briefly before returning it but the old man never noticed.

Fenton watched with approving eyes although he hoped that Joe knew what he was doing and was not pushing himself too quickly. He was still healing both physically and emotionally.

And then the senior Hardy averted his eyes as he felt a heavy sadness from the missed closeness of being able to hug his son as freely as their old neighbor was now doing.

Although Wilson had not noticed Joe's slight reaction, his father did. And while the youth might have briefly stiffened from the old man, he would have recoiled from his father – he was not ready yet. And all Fenton could do was hope that some day he could once again reach out to his son without seeing the momentary wave of panic in his face or feel his flinch from the very gesture.

Stepping away as the old man released him Joe grinned up at the orange tabby that sat watching everything, unimpressed in a way only cats can be, "So Brutus, do you want to tell Frank or should I?"

"Tell Frank what?" a voice said loudly a moment before they heard 19-year-old Frank Hardy hopping down the stairs. Frank's leg was still in a cast from his tumble over the side of the cliff with Tim Hardy but it was supposed to come off in two weeks – just in time for Graduation.

He had been upstairs getting ready when Wilson showed up at the house and had no idea that the old man was there until he hopped lightly off the bottom stair with the expertise that had come from being temporarily incapacitated by his injury. Joe quickly moved towards him incase he wavered, but he didn't and brushed his brother's hands away, "Hi Mr. Fitz, how are you feeling?"

Frank could feel the surprise in his parents gaze even as Wilson answered, "I've been worse", as they realized that their oldest son must have known, or at least suspected, that their elderly neighbor was ill.

"Good", Frank quipped as he grabbed his crutches from where he had left them at the bottom of the stairs and moved towards the adults in the living room. His gaze narrowed when he saw the cat sitting on the fireplace as he said brusquely, "Cat".

Brutus got an even smugger look on his face (if that was possible) and swished his tail. It was a game they played.

Frank was allergic to cats and Brutus seemed to love to torment him as if knowing that being too close made the boy sneeze and left him with itchy eyes and a runny nose. Thankfully enough, Frank's allergy was not as severe as it had been when he was younger or else the Hardy's would not have been able to keep the cat. However, teen and feline had come to an unspoken understanding and Brutus stayed out of Frank's room, spending most of his time in Fenton's study sleeping on his desk where the sun warmed it during the day.

So Frank was surprised to see the cat in the living room.

"Would you two give it up", Joe laughed as he watched the posturing on both sides. It was really quite funny especially since he knew that Frank adored the prissy little feline and that the cat felt the same for the older boy. In fact, Joe had seen how excited the cat got whenever Frank pulled into the driveway only to put on the "game" face once his "rival" entered the room, "Mr. Fitzpatrick is moving back to Jamaica and he asked if we would take care of Rufus for him."

Frank turned his attention on his brother, keeping far away from the cat so he wouldn't have to go out with red runny eyes, "For how long?" his voice was cautious as he too immediately thought about Hero.

"For ever", Joe said as he turned sad eyes on his neighbor. He would miss the old man, "I know what you're thinking…but I told Mr. Fitz that we could do a trial run and see how it goes." He tried to sound flippant about it but knew that Frank saw right threw him but it was something he wanted to do.

The dark haired youth bit his lip thoughtfully for a few moments as he sized his brother up. His first thought was no that this was mistake but as he gave it a bit more consideration, he decided that it was worth a try. Frank' impending departure for University and Vanessa's move to Vancouver weighed heavily on Joe's mind. With Rufus around, he wouldn't be so alone.

His gaze traveled down to the dog that was now standing obediently beside Wilson's side. Rufus looked up at him and held his gaze. Finally nodding his head, Frank grinned as he shot the cat a nasty look, "Sounds great. What do you think furball?"

The cat stretched as it yawned, jumped down from the fireplace and then slowly sauntered back towards the home office, its tail raised proudly behind it. It did not really care because no matter what, Brutus knew who was the master of this home…he was.

_**phx**_

"So are you really okay with this?" Frank asked as Joe slowly backed the Envoy out of the driveway and onto the street.

"With what?" Joe asked absently as he started the drive across town to Phil's house. Frank and Phil had planned to spend the evening going over some "strategy" for the approaching chess tournament that the boys had entered. It was taking place in July in Los Angeles and they were looking forward to both the competition and staying with Kyle and Melissa Hardy, cousins who lived in L.A. where Kyle was a California Highway Patrol Officer.

"The whole dog thing. You know…Rufus?" Frank watched carefully and saw his brother's jaw clench for a second before the younger boy smiled and brushed it off, "Yeah. It'll be fine. Besides it's just a trial and if it doesn't work, then Mr. Fitz still has time to find someone else."

Frank nodded but wasn't convinced. He had no idea why Joe was still so bothered about another Hardy dog – it had happened almost 9 years ago. However, as his own recollections of that time were hazy at best, he wondered if maybe he was missing something. In fact the more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that that there must be more to what had happened then what Joe let on.

The only problem was he had no idea what that could be and Joe was battling enough of his own more recent demons for him to start pressing about what had happened so many years ago.

So Frank decided to let it drop, for now, but vowed to keep a close eye on Joe once Rufus came to stay with them.

The brothers continued the drive in silence until Joe dropped Frank off at Phil's house and headed over to Mr.Pizza's.

Mr. Pizza's was a popular pizzeria owned and operated by family of one of the boys' dearest friends, Tony Prito. Joe helped out on occasion and that was what he was doing this evening. Tony had called to ask if he could do some deliveries for them as his cousin, Raul, was sick and they were already short handed with one of their regular waitresses on holiday.

Joe had agreed and although Frank was a bit leery, as he was overly protective of his brother, they decided it would work out okay. Joe could drop Frank off at Phil's and then Phil would drop him by the pizza joint when they were finished strategizing.

"Don't forget to wait for me!" Frank chastised, as he and Phil were notorious for losing track of time once they started playing Chess. Joe had laughed, promised not to and then drove away.

Frank watched the Envoy pull away from the curb with a slight frown on his face. He was worried about the idea of Joe doing the pizza deliveries alone as his brother had not fully recovered yet from his ordeal in the pit and hated being by himself. But Joe had insisted he would be okay and refused all offers by Frank and even Vanessa to ride "shotgun" for him.

"What's wrong?" 19-year-old Phil Cohen asked seeing the look on his friend's face as he continued standing on the curb watching the disappearing taillights.

Frank didn't answer for a few moments before sighing and turning towards his best friend, "Joe."

"Ah" Phil said knowingly as he put a friendly arm around Frank's shoulder and walked him towards the house, "Joe."

"Do you think it's silly of me to be so worried about him all the time?" Frank's dark eyes bored into Phil's lighter ones wanting to know if maybe he was overreacting.

Phil thought about that as both boys stopped on the porch. After a few moments, he carefully phrased his answer, "Whether it is silly or not is not the issue. It is whether or not your worries have any grounds or merit. And to that I guess I would have to say yes and no."

Frank raised an eyebrow bidding him to continue and Phil tried to explain, "Well. No… because Joe has been through a lot in the last year and although he is coping well, he's still very vulnerable and has a long way to go…and Yes because, while Joe is your brother, you cannot expect to protect him from everything or worry about him every time he's somewhere else. That's not healthy."

Deep down Phil felt that it would actually be to Frank's benefit when he moved out of the house and into the university dorms in the fall. He worried too much for someone his age. But he would never say that to Frank, as both Frank and Joe were very dear to him. He just wanted what was best for them.

Nodding in an agreement to what his friend had just said, Frank changed the subject, "Hey did I tell you that we're having a guest staying with us this summer?"

"Who?" Phil asked as he pushed open his house door and the boys went into the kitchen.

"Another Joe!" Laughing at the look on his friend's face, Frank went on to tell Phil about Joey Thomas and how he was going to be their houseguest for the summer.

Phil just groaned and pretended to be aghast, "Just what we need, a pint sized Joe. As if the full sized version wasn't enough!" And then he grinned and punched Frank in the arm to let him know he was kidding and the two boys started to laugh as they went upstairs to Phil's room, calling out a greeting to Phil's father as they passed him in the living room.

But the rest of the evening was interspersed with mild teasing about Bayport not being big enough for two Joe's under the same roof in the house on the corner of Elm and High Streets.

_**phx**_

19-year-old Tony Prito was teasing Sean Todd when Joe came into the kitchen of Mr. Pizza's and grinned as he caught the tail end of the tormenting.

"No I'm sorry Sean…but you know the rules. Either you put the helmet on yourself or else I will put it on for you," he was holding out an ugly orange bike helmet and the black youth was protesting vehemently about it.

"No way Prito! But I'd love to see you try…" he went into a boxing stance to back up his bait. Tony tried to keep from grinning but it was near impossible as Sean began weaving and faking punches as he taunted, "Oh yeah baby, I can float like a butterfly and sting like a bee…"

Joe couldn't resist, "Oh yeah there's definitely something floating back here…but it ain't no butterfly!" Both boys turned immediately at the sound of their friend's voice and laughed as they realized they had been caught. Ever since Sean had returned to work after being attacked in the back alley one night when he was taking the garbage out, Tony had enjoyed tormenting him. Insisting that he was not allowed in the alley without an escort or at the very least a bike helmet.

Both boys enjoyed the jesting and blushed slightly at being caught. Especially by Joe since he was the one who had come to Sean's rescue that late night.

"Hey Joe!" The teens chorused as Joe took off his jacket and grabbed a "Mr. Pizza's Home Delivery" baseball cap from the back shelf.

"Hey yourself", he answered before screwing Tony with a nasty grin, "are you tormenting the hired help again?"

"Help?" Tony jested, "trust me Joseph, he's no help!"

"Hey!" Sean protested but then sobered as one of the girl's called back for an extra large house pizza with all the fixings. Immediately Sean began to get it ready even as the phone rang and Tony sprang to answer it.

"It's going to be busy tonight, " Tony warned Joe as he picked up the receiver, "_Mr. Pizza's Home Delivery, how can I help you_?"

Joe sighed and plucked the delivery car keys from the nail next to the office door where it was kept surprising himself to realize just how nervous he was about doing this. His hands shook ever so slightly and he pushed them into his pockets before his friends could see. He did not want them to start coddling him again.

"Joe?"

Startled he turned to see Sean and Tony were both looking at him strangely, obvious concern written on their faces. Tony came over to him and said quietly, "Are you okay?"

"Sure", Joe said brushing them off as he straightened his baseball cap, "why?"

Tony and Sean exchanged a look before Tony continued, "Well you just looked a little spooked there for a moment. You're sure?" Tony was very concerned that he might be pushing Joe too quickly by having him come in to work tonight. He would have never considered asking him if they weren't so pressed…and Frank's leg was in a cast.

Both boys knew that Joe was still suffering from a mild case of separation anxiety and hated being alone for very long. And if tonight was as busy as Tony predicted it to be, Joe would spend quite a bit of it alone – only coming into the restaurant long enough to pick up the next pizza's and then dropping them off.

"Of course I'm a bit spooked", Joe quipped trying to cover up how close to home they had hit, "I just realized I'm going to be driving the "Raul-mobile" and that's pretty darn scary!" Tony and Sean had to agree.

Raul Prito was Tony's cousin whose greatest aspiration in life was to be a pizza deliveryman. Which he was, along with third in charge when Aldo or Tony weren't there. _And _Raul was fanatical about his delivery vehicle…

"Truer words were never spoken", Tony relented knowing his cousin too well, "okay well I have a delivery ready for Cassidy Road, and two along Parker Avenue, if you're ready."

Joe nodded and grabbed the pizza boxes and headed to the car. It was going to be a long night.

_**phx**_

"Do you want to order a pizza?" Phil asked as he watched Frank trying to concentrate on the game they were playing. It was obvious that his friend's thoughts were elsewhere because he was playing a crappy game – as far as Phil was concerned.

"What?" Frank asked caught off guard. He had been busy trying to force himself to keep his attention on the game and had only half heard what Phil said. Something about pizza.

"I asked if you wanted to order a pizza. Then you could check out the delivery boy and make sure he's doing good, " Phil shook his head as he saw Frank's hand pause over his next move…it was a careless move and both boys knew it.

Grinning sheepishly Frank put his piece back down and ran his hand threw his dark disheveled hair (unruly from his constant attention as he was aught to do whenever he was upset, worried…etc), "Are you sure?"

"Yes, as that might be the only way I will get any decent competition tonight…Frank you're playing like a…like a…heck there's no word for what you're playing like!" Phil grinned as he was already reaching for his phone to call Tony and place an order.

"Am I that obvious?" Frank asked as he watched his friend punching in the number.

"Oh yeah", Phil mouthed as he listened to Tony's greeting, "oh yeah."

_**phx**_

Joe grinned as he waited for the door to be answered. Biff Hooper was his long time best friend and he couldn't wait to see the look on Biff's face when he saw who the delivery boy was. Not to mention seeing him squirm as he tried to explain why he was ordering an extra large pizza when he was supposed to be watching the carbs.

Brawny and muscular, Biff had always eaten pretty much what he wanted but recently he had confided in Joe that he was going to cut out carbohydrates and just eat protein. His friends had on ongoing bet to see how long he would last….

"Pizza!" Joe called out when he heard someone unlocking the door and then his face dropped in shock as the door swung open.

It was not Biff.

_**phx**_

"Is that the pizza?" Biff's voice boomed out from the living room moments before he appeared in the doorway and he paled as he saw who was standing there, "Joe? What are you doing here?"

Joe lowered his eyes and held out the pizza wordlessly. His face had turned gray as just seeing Jan Biggerman assaulted him with memories and feelings he had thought he had finally reconciled with.

Biff, realizing how he sounded immediately added, "Not that I'm not happy to see you…but I thought you'd be Raul."

"Sick", Joe deadpanned.

Jan had opened the door but now she stepped back awkwardly as she sensed the rush of emotions that Joe was feeling just by seeing her. He had known that she and Biff were dating but until now, they had not actually come face to face with each other.

"I'll wait inside", she said and quickly left as relieved to get away from him as he was to have her leave.

Biff nodded and waited for her to go wondering why the hell Tony hadn't warned him that Joe was doing the delivery so that he could have prevented this very thing from happening.

Joe finally spoke after Jan left, "I have other deliveries Biff. If you can just pay me…" It was the first time in their friendship that it was suddenly very uncomfortable and awkward between them.

"Joe…" Biff started but Joe cut him off as he glanced up and the look of pain that shone from his vibrant blue eyes tore straight into Biff. He had no idea just how hurt his friend was and the betrayal that Joe felt over his relationship with Jan.

"No Biff", Joe said trying to keep his voice even, "I gotta go." The younger boy was no longer even concerned about collecting the money from his friend; he would have Tony deduct it from his wages.

"Joe", Biff reached out to grab his friend's arm to stop him from leaving but Joe yanked free with such vehemence the older boy was left speechless before silently scolding himself for the motion knowing Joe's aversion to unexpected contact.

"Biff…no", and then Joe was gone, tires squealing as he tore away from the house leaving his longtime friend with an extra large pizza and no appetite to eat it.

Jan watched from the living room window.

_**phx**_

Joe did not want to do his next delivery. He was still shaken from what had happened at Biff's house and the last person he wanted to see right now was Frank.

Frank would see right through him and know something had happened to shake him up and the last thing he wanted right now was for his older brother to be even more worried about him.

However, there was no way out of it. If he didn't deliver the pizza then Frank would call Tony and everyone would be worried about him. Either way, he saw no easy way out.

So sucking up his breath, he knocked on the Cohen's front door and waited.

_**phx**_

"Why the hell didn't' you tell me Joe was doing the deliveries!" Biff roared into the phone at Tony. The more he thought about it the more upset he got – Tony could have stopped this from happening.

"What are you talking about Hooper?" Tony growled not too pleased to have his friend yelling at him when he had done nothing wrong.

"Joe…what the hell else do you think I'm talking about?" Biff paced as he talked to Tony, "Jan answered the door when he came to my house!"

Tony paused still confused, "Jan? Biff what are you talking about?" It had been a busy night and Tony was totally confused by what had Biff so upset. Lucky enough for Biff, Tony was a bit too confused right now to be very angry at his friend's tone with him or else things might have become very ugly.

"Jan Biggerman, Prito! She answered the door when Joe delivered the pizza and now he's pissed off at me and gone off all upset…hell he didn't' even take my money!" Biff stopped and leaned against the wall sighing in defeat, his anger was quickly dwindling as he knew what happened really was not Tony's fault. Besides in the old days, Biff would have already known that Joe was working there tonight…but not anymore. Hell some days went by where he hardly talked to his best friend at all.

Understanding slowly dawned on Tony and he slapped his forehead cursing in Italian before talking to Biff again, "I'm so sorry Biff! But it was a girl who called in the pizza and we've been so busy that when she gave your address, I never even recognized it. Oh man…I would have told you…for sure."

Biff grimaced. It was true. Jan had placed the order and he had just assumed that Tony would have realized it was for him…but when things got busy…

Letting out a big sigh Biff tilted his head back against the wall suddenly feeling a large headache coming on, "It's not your fault…I just…" Biff sighed again, "He's pretty upset I think. It's the first time he's seen Jan since…well since…since it all happened I guess."

Tony nodded although Biff couldn't see him, "Yeah I guess so…"

"He's pretty upset", Biff repeated remembering the look in Joe's eyes just before he left…pain and betrayal.

"Well his next pizza delivery is to Phil's and Frank is there", Tony tried to consol his friend as he heard the anguish in his voice and knowing how torn Biff was. The big muscular youth would want to go after his friend but right now that would probably make things worst.

"Good", Biff said in relief, "Do you think I should call and let Frank know what happened?"

Tony paused as Sean came over to stand by him. The other boy heard Tony's side of the conversation was now worried about what was going on. Tony held his hand over the receiver and just mouthed the word "Joe" and Sean's jaw tightened involuntarily. Although their relationship had improved a little, both Biff and Sean were still wary of each other particularly when it came to Joe.

"Probably. You know how good Joe can be about hiding these things", Tony advised thinking of all the times in the past that Joe has gotten hurt or put himself in danger because he thought he could handle things himself and did not confide in Frank…or anyone else for that matter.

"Alright", Biff nodded pulling himself away from the wall, "I'd better give him a call then before Joe gets there. Thanks Tony and I'm sorry for loosing it on you earlier." His apology was sincere and Tony laughed accepting it, "No sweat Biff…I'm just glad this pounding was over the phone and not in person."

Moments later, Biff was dialing Phil's number as Tony related to Sean what had happened.

The black teen just shook his head as he walked back towards the pizza ovens. He couldn't help but wonder what had possessed Biff to start dating Jan when he was Joe's best friend.

_**phx**_

Jan Biggerman sighed as she listened to her boyfriend relating to Frank what had happened. She hated this tiptoeing around that she was expected to do just because it might _upset Joe_.

_Poor 'whittle Joey,_ she thought sulkily, _afraid of the big bad Janet. _And then she hid a grin as she envisioned herself chasing Joe through a field of wildflowers…with a carving knife.

_Very funny indeed._

_**phx**_

"_Mr. Pizza's Home Delivery, how can I help you_?" Tony was sure that he would be dreaming about answering the phone when he finally got to bed as it seemed to be ringing non stop. As he took down the order information and address he frowned as he verified, "1001 Handover Crescent? I don't think I know where that is."

The voice on the other end laughed as it said, "It's the new subdivision just behind Bayport High."

"Oh", Tony said unaware that the new condos had anyone living in them yet, "okay I'll let the delivery guy know." Hanging up he shrugged and called out the order to Sean even as one of the girls hollered for him to come out front – they were having trouble with one of the registers…again.

_**phx**_

Frank opened the door almost as soon as Joe knocked and the younger boy knew immediately that Biff had phoned his brother.

"I'm fine", he said before Frank even got a chance to ask although the dark haired boy was not so convinced. Joe's face was still pale and his eyes had a haunted look to them, "but I could use a drink of water."

Frank nodded and ushered his brother in, taking the pizza from him and handing it to Phil who was waiting in the kitchen, "Where's your water bottle?" Every since Joe had almost died from dehydration in the bottom of Tim Hardy's pit, he had been almost obsessive in his water consumption, forever armed with at least one bottle of water.

A bit sheepishly Joe pulled an empty container from his jacket pocket, "It's been a busy night", he said by way of explanation. He had refilled it before leaving Mr. Pizza's a little while ago but then drank it on the drive over from Biff's house – he had been very upset and the water had a calming effect on him.

Raising an eyebrow, Frank started to run the water in the sink to make it cold but Phil grabbed his arm stopping him, "There's cold stuff in the fridge", and then he pulled out a large container of ice water and handed it to his friend. Frank smiled gratefully at him before pouring Joe a glass and then refilling his bottle.

"Biff called you", Joe said casually as more of a statement then question and Frank nodded as he gave his brother the glass and watched him drink it. He suspected that most of his brother's thirst was a psychosomatic response to what had happened, "He's worried about you."

Joe finished the water and put the glass down in the sink, "I'm fine."

"So you say", Frank said with equal casualness.

Phil grabbed two pieces of pizza from the box and put them on a paper plate, "I'll see if Dad wants some pizza", and then he quietly slipped out of the kitchen to give his friends some privacy.

Frank waited. He wanted his brother to talk to him…he did not want to grill him for information.

Finally Joe sighed as he played with the cap on the now full water bottle, "Okay it did shake me up more then I'd like to admit…seeing Janet Biggerman at Biff's. But I'm cool with it now…honestly." He glanced up quickly at his brother who was leaning back against the sink with his arms crossed across his chest, not looking very convinced. Frank's crutches were still up in Phil's room as he preferred to hobble or hop around when he inside.

"Honestly?", Frank repeated cocking his eyebrow and ignoring the imploring look in the vivid blue eyes that were watching him.

Joe shifted uncomfortably, "Yeah. Anyway I gotta go…it's busy tonight and Tony has more deliveries waiting for me."

"Joe", Frank started realizing that Joe wasn't going to give him much more voluntarily but his younger brother cut him off not really wanting to talk about this right now.

"Frank. Can we talk about this later? Like when I get off work or something?" Joe wanted out of this conversation…for now.

"I'm just worried about you kiddo", the dark haired boy said gently as he stared intently into his brother's face. Joe sighed and his eyes teared up brightly, "You worry too much about me…you know that don't you?"

Frank wasn't given a chance to reply before Joe continued, "but I love you for it anyway…I gotta go and I really am fine…or at least I will be", the blond boy corrected when he saw the skeptical look cross his older siblings face, "after all I got the best big brother in the world looking out for me. Now are you going to pay me… _or what_? I'm already in the hole for Biff's pizza!" Joe's attempt at levity worked and Frank laughed as he passed the money to his brother before shaking his head and fishing out another 20.00, "here's the money for Biff's…_now he owes me_."

Joe pocketed the money and started for the front door as Phil came into the hallway, "Oh crikey now Biff's really got a problem…indebted to Frank '_Mr-calculate-interest-by-the-hour'_ Hardy."

"Hardy har har", Frank quipped as he hobbled into the hall and watched Phil close the door behind his brother, "see what I have to put up with?"

Phil turned an innocent expression on his best friend, "What are you talking about? You do calculate interest by the hour."

_**phx**_

The four boys watched the _Mr. Pizza's Home Delivery_ car round the corner and pull onto the dark street. They grinned in anticipation…this was going to be fun.

_**phx**_

Joe stared down at the address with a frown on his face. He was on Handover Crescent but there was no 1001…at least not one that was finished enough for a pizza delivery yet. The condos were a block behind the old high school and he got a bad feeling when he realized that there was no way anyone could be living in them yet – some didn't even have all their siding on.

Suddenly he heard a soft pop and the front end of the car leaned down heavily on one side, it's front tire flat. Biting back the apprehension, as he was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that he needed to get out of here and now, Joe reluctantly opened the driver door and got out. _This is Raul's baby_ – if he ruined the rim just because he was overreacting…Joe did not even want to consider that. Raul would kill him!

"Damn", he muttered as he saw the badly deflated tire. Just then the sound of movement from behind him caused him to turn in time to duck the bat that was lined up with the back of his head but not the fist that was following close behind.

With a sickening crack, his skull hit the side of the car and the world turned a nauseating shade of yellow and then black as the teen slumped to the ground – unconscious.

_**phx**_

The four youths advanced on the fallen boy and pulled him away from the car. The baseball cap fell off his head revealing the messy blond locks and one of the boys hissed, "Shit."

Swearing, they let him fall to the ground next to the car. One of them gave him a vicious kick in the ribs, eliciting a soft moan from the still youth, before grabbing the dart that was sticking out of the front tire of the car and taking off.

_**phx**_

Frank and Phil were just heading out the door when the phone rang. Having finished their "strategizing", Phil was going to drop his friend off at the pizza joint where Frank would wait for Joe to finish work so they could drive home together.

"Hello?" Phil winced as he answered. His father hated phone calls after 11 PM unless they were an emergency. Two minutes later, he and Frank were hurrying towards his car and Mr. Cohen was not upset at all…

Frank's heart was racing with fear as he replayed the brief conversation he had had with Tony over and over in his mind, the bottom line being that Joe was missing.

_**phx**_

Tony hung up the phone and gave what he hoped was a confidant look to Sean, "Frank'll find him."

Joe was long overdue and Tony couldn't reach him on the cell or car radio. Worried but unable to leave the busy restaurant themselves, Tony had made the phone call. He called Frank and then hoped it was something innocuous that was delaying his friend and not anything to do with the bad feeling he had about the delivery to Handover Crescent.

_**phx**_

The street was dark and almost empty when Phil's car rounded the corner.

_Almost empty._

"There!" Frank said almost jumping out of his seat as he pointed towards the small delivery car with its headlights still blazing, "Pull over…there!"

Of course Phil could see the car just as well as Frank could but he did not fault his friend for being overzealous and quickly pulled up behind the other vehicle.

Frank was out of the car before it had come to a complete stop, his eyes straining for any sign of his brother. Quickly moving across the grass on his crutches Frank called out to Joe and then gave a small gasp as he saw the dark, form lying too still on the grass just off to the side of the car, "JOE!"

Ignoring the discomfort the position caused his leg, Frank knelt down beside his brother and placed a shaking hand on his neck, checking his pulse. With an audible sigh of relief he looked up at Phil who was starting to kneel next to him, "He's breathing."

Phil pulled out his cell phone to call 9-1-1 when Joe groaned and started moving against his brother's protests, "Joe…lie still. You're hurt!"

" 'am…not", came the slurred reply and Phil paused before continuing his call. They could give Joe a ride to the hospital now that he was regaining consciousness and could tell them where he was hurt.

Rolling his eyes, Frank gave up and helped his struggling brother to sit up and as the younger boy groaned and rubbed first his jaw and then the back of his head, he couldn't help but growl, "Not hurt, eh?"

Joe managed to shoot him a dirty look before moaning at the pain of the movement, "Okay… maybe…just a…little."

"Can you move?" Phil asked as Frank pulled out the small flashlight that was attached to his keys and checked his brother's pupils for any sign of a concussion. Joe swatted him away, "Yes…Frank stop it."

Although Joe felt like crap and his head was hurting, he had had enough concussions and head injuries in his lifetime to know that he didn't have one now. As his vision began to clear, he breathed in deeply and then groaned as the nasty bruise on his ribs protested the movement, "Those…idiots must have…kicked me", he said through a couple of deep breaths.

Frank ran his hands lightly across his brother's ribs and felt Joe tremble beneath his touch and although he was concerned and thought Joe should be checked out at the hospital, he was sure they were lucky and that nothing was broken, cracked or concussed…this time.

"I'm fine", Joe reiterated a bit more strongly as he tried to push Frank's hands away and then he paused as the fresh movement sent pain in every direction.

Ignoring the protests, Frank felt along the back of Joe's skull and was relieved to find that while he did have a bump on the back of his head from where he had contacted with the car, there was no blood. All in all, Joe did seem fine.

"All right", Frank finally acquiesced, "let's get you to Phil's car and then to the hospital." He started to try and help his brother up but Joe shook his head, "No hospital. I'll be fine. Honestly", his clear blue eyes held his brother's gaze, "I need to go back to work. Tony's too busy!"

Phil, who had been watching silently for a few moments, finally chimed in knowing how stubborn both brothers could be and not wanting to spend all night watching as they butted heads, "How about this…" he paused until they both turned to look at them, "I'll call my Dad and let him know I'll be late. Frank, you take my car and drive Joe to the hospital…yes… _the hospital_" he repeated sternly as he saw the look Joe gave him, "I'll finish the deliveries for Tony…how's that?"

"The car has a flat", Joe said finding the fault in Phil's generous offer…he really did not want to go to the hospital again. He knew they would insist on keeping him overnight for observation to make sure that his lung hadn't been injured, which he was sure it hadn't. Although his ribs did ache from the kick, he was breathing rather effortlessly….if not gingerly.

"Okay… so I drop you guys off at Mr. Pizza's. You take your own vehicle and I use mine. Tony can have someone tow the pizza car, " Phil amended, looking from one Hardy to the other and then Frank nodded, "Sounds good to me. Thanks Phil."

"No problem", the sandy haired boy smiled at the brothers.

"Frank", Joe whined even as he let Phil and Frank help him stand up. He wobbled a bit but they steadied him and started him towards Phil's car.

"I don't even want to hear it, " Frank said as he struggled briefly with his crutches, letting Phil take over supporting Joe, " you can go now…with me… or I can tell Mom and you can go with her."

The sheer look of panic in his brother's face at that thought made Frank laugh, "I thought you might see it my way."

There was much more grumbling on the way to Mr. Pizza's and then on the way to the hospital but most of it was good natured and Frank was just relieved that his brother was feeling well enough to do so much complaining!

_**phx**_

Officer Con Riley came into the emergency room and headed right over to the dark haired teen that was sitting by himself in the waiting room.

Frank saw the familiar face and struggled to rise and greet him, grabbing his crutches as he did so, "Hi Con".

Con and Brenda Riley had been long time friends to the Hardy's and were very well known to the brothers.

"Hello Frank", Con said relaxing a bit when he saw the younger man. When he had heard about the attack on the pizza delivery driver and heard who it was, he had been concerned about the severity of Joe's injury. However, seeing the look on Frank's face, he was sure that Joe wasn't too seriously injured. The older Hardy brother was just not as distraught as he had been upon occasion in the past when his brother was seriously injured, "How's Joe?"

"Dr. Sidhu is seeing him right now but I think he'll be just fine. He was conscious and coherent when I brought him in…protesting all the way", Frank grinned wryly remembering the look his brother had shot him just as he was wheeled down the hall.

"Good", Con said genuinely, "So what happened?" He had come to find out about the attack and decided to talk to Frank first and give the doctors a few more moments before he sought them out.

"Well he didn't say much. Just that he had to make a delivery on Handover Crescent and that he was jumped from behind when he got out to change a flat tire, " Frank summarized briefly although that was really all he knew, "He never saw who it was."

Con was taking notes and frowned, "A flat tire?"

"Yeah", Frank nodded his own concern mirroring the young officer's; "the car is being towed to Ryan's right now. I didn't' get a chance to look at the tire but I don't think it was a legitimate flat…" but then the teen shrugged his shoulders, "but who knows… maybe it was opportunists who just happened to be around when the tire gave out." Ryan's was a local garage that the Hardy's and most of their friends used.

"Did anything get stolen? The pizzas… Joe's wallet? Anything?" Con pressed but Frank shook his head, "No not that I know of. The pizza was still in the car and I have Joe's wallet". He fished the worn leather wallet from his pocket and showed it to Con, briefly spreading it apart so he could see it still held the money, "but they might not have had time."

Even as he said it, Frank doubted it knowing that Joe was about a half an hour overdue before Tony started to get worried. So it was more then likely that he had been unconscious for longer then that. Possibly for as long as 45 minutes – more then enough time to rob him.

Just then an old East Indian doctor slowly made his way out of one of the examining rooms, shaking his head as he did. Frank and Con met him halfway, recognizing Dr. Sidhu instantly.

Dr. Sidhu smiled gently at Frank as he held up his hands in resignation; "Your brother will be the death of me yet!" And then he quickly went on as he could see the unconcealed worry on their faces, "however he will be fine. No concussion… just a nasty bump on the back of head. A bruised jaw that will be tender and bruised ribs that will mend. Nothing serious. However…" he became serious as he glanced back towards the room he had just come out of, "I would have liked to keep him overnight just to make sure that there isn't something we've missed…however he has already been more then vocal with me regarding that request. So without further adieu, I bid you take him home…put him to bed…and bring him back immediately if _anything_ comes up!"

Frank laughed as he reached out and squeezed the patient old doctor's arm gently. He owed this man for his brother's life, too many times to ever repay, "Thank you Dr. Sidhu and don't worry. If he even so much as sneezes the wrong way, I'll bring him back…hog-tied if I have to!"

"Hog-tied", surmised the old practitioner, "now there's an ideal. Anyway, he's in room #3. You can collect him while I write up the discharge." He shook hands with Con before leaving, "Officer Riley, always nice to see you even if it seems to be under less then idea circumstances."

With one final shake of his head, the old man left them and went to make sure the forms were ready for Joe's release from the ER.

"Well shall we go and rescue the hospital from this patient?" Con teased as Frank was already making his way down the hall.

_**phx**_

"I don't get it", Joe said an hour later as he lay in the cot in Frank's room. Although it was 3:30 in the morning, neither boy could fall asleep as they mulled over the attack, "Why jump me and not even steal the pizza or the cash? I had over a hundred in pizza money!"

Frank lay on his back, trying to ignore the itch down his cast. He couldn't wait to get this thing off in two weeks.

Sighing, he gave in and reached for the small toy princess wand he had borrowed from Joe to get inside the cast and at the itch, "I figure we have a couple of options. Firstly, it could have just been an attack on a pizza driver… but for whatever reason, they never got to finish the robbery or… it could have been an attack on Joe Hardy. We need to figure out which one it was and then maybe we can narrow it down to a workable list of suspects."

Although it bothered him to admit it, Frank was right. It could have been personal. Unfortunately he did not have the privilege of thinking there weren't people out there who wanted to hurt him.

No, and if it wasn't spurred by his or Frank's own past cases, there was always retribution coming from people who had an axe to grind with their famous Dad.

Either way, it wasn't looking promising for figuring it out tonight so Joe reluctantly rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, one more time, but not before sighing and agreeing with his brother, "Yeah…too bad that makes the list way to long…either way."

"You're telling me kiddo…you're telling me", and then to his own surprise, Frank felt the call of the twilight world and followed Joe into sleep within minutes.

_**phx**_

Saturday morning came way too early for Frank. But once his eyes opened and he realized what day it was, he pulled himself out of bed as quietly as possible and headed downstairs. He had something important to do this morning. He had put it off long enough and before Joe got up and they tried to figure out who attacked him, Frank wanted to get this done.

However, wanting to do it and actually doing it were two different things.

His mother, blond haired like her younger son, couldn't contain the smile as she heard her usually very well collected oldest fidgeting behind her. Keeping her back to him, she finished packing a small lunch and then turned around, careful to erase the barely concealed humor from her face, at his plight.

Laura Hardy had only just gotten back from the Morton's farm and was now getting ready to go to work. Worried about what had happened to her youngest son, she had gone to Catherine and John's farm to go horseback riding. She always found that being around the large animals helped to calm her nerves. So after checking the boys to make sure they were indeed all right, she left the house and headed for the stables.

Frank had called her from the hospital and she wanted to go there right away. However, it was only his insistence that Joe was all right and the knowledge that by the time she got there he would be discharged, that kept her in her bed. But she did come down to check on them once she heard the door open – although it was well past the middle of the night.

She wished her husband was here but she had driven him to the airport the prior evening after their neighbor, Wilson Fitzpatrick's visit. He was speaking at the FBI academy in Quantico today and Sunday and wouldn't be back until late Monday night.

It was a glorious Saturday morning and she wouldn't be home until later that night, "Frank, make sure Joe eats something when he gets up", she reminded her son as she grabbed her purse and lunch, "I should be home around 9:00 pm. There's some steaks in the fridge if you guys want to do a BBQ or something. And tell Joe that I don't want him doing anymore deliveries by himself!"

Frank nodded although his wracked mind wasn't really paying that much attention. Not bothering to conceal her mirth this time, Laura bent down and kissed the top of his head gently as she said knowingly, "It's okay Frank…just go ahead and call her…you'll see."

His dark eyes caught hers and she felt a tug at her heart at the look that was laid so openly in them. He had no idea. No girl could ever say no to him.

Frank Hardy was what could only be considered a 'catch'. Tall with brooding dark eyes and hair, he had an athlete's body and hero's heart…sensitive and perceptive. Laura sighed…_so much like his father_…

With a final quick hug she headed towards the door and called over her shoulder as she went, "I'd better not come home to find you still sitting here…_call her_!"

Frank groaned. His mother made it sound so easy. But in reality it was the most terrifying thing in the world to him…to call a girl and ask her to be his prom date.

Callie Shaw had been the only girlfriend that Frank had ever had and he had no experience in this arena. He had been infatuated with Callie from the day he realized that girls weren't so bad after all…and they had just started dating. It was nothing really planned. It just happened and it felt natural.

Now only a few years later and with that relationship over, Frank really had no idea how to go about doing this. He envied his younger brother for the ease at which Joe dealt with these kinds of things – Joe was a people person.

But for Frank, these things were much harder for him…and that made him uncomfortable. He was used to things coming easy for him. Academics and sports certainly did.

For a few moments he toyed with the idea of dragging Joe out of bed and having him make the phone call, masquerading as Frank, but scrapped that idea…if nothing else because his younger brother would never let him live it down!

Finally taking a big sigh, Frank picked up the phone and started dialing the hastily scrawled phone number that Vanessa had given him…and then he waited for a few rings before a familiar voice answered the phone.

Before he lost his nerve, he blurted out, "Hi this is Frank…would you like to go to the prom with me?"

And then to his horror, the voice on the other end started laughing, "I don't know… you're kind of young for me but if you wait for a moment I'll get my daughter for you!"

If he could have willed death upon himself at that very moment, Frank would have. It was Mrs. Connor…not Tammy!

_**phx**_

Callie Shaw stared at the reflection in the mirror and liked what she saw. The months she had spent recuperating on the island had bronzed her skin and bleached her blond hair so that it was almost platinum.

She had to admit to herself that she looked fabulous. And the cream dress that she had picked out accentuated her curves and tan…._ it was to die for…_

A movement behind her made her shift her gaze briefly as a voice chuckled softly, "Your Mr. Hardy has no idea what he is in for."

The teenaged girl pouted and turned back to the reflection pretending to be unsure, "I don't know BJ, don't you think this dress is a little…"

"Knock it off sweetheart", the older man cut in turning away from the room door, "You're a dish and you know it. Any man would be lucky to have you."

The pout turned back into a self-appreciating smile, "Of course you're right BJ. You're always right."

"And don't forget that!" He called back from somewhere else in the hotel suite. He and Callie had been staying in a hotel penthouse since getting back to Bayport. She would have preferred to have her own place but unfortunately with her father in jail and her mother's whereabouts unknown, Callie had no money and had to rely on BJ for everything.

But when considering their fairly common goals, it was an arrangement that had its merit.

She wanted Frank Hardy; he wanted Joe Hardy…. Oh yes, they had a lot in common.

"What are you going to do today?" she called out as she put the dress away and pulled on a pair of Capri pants and a short t-shirt. The weather was already wonderful and warm and it was still early in the morning yet.

BJ sat down on the deck of the penthouse and looked out towards Barmet Bay. He was sipping a glass of orange juice and had a plate of fruit in front of him. He had already eaten two bagels and a boiled egg; "I thought I would spend the day on the bay. It's good boat weather."

Callie was delighted – she loved sailing but then he continued as he carefully pulled the peel away from a succulent grapefruit half and popped part of it in his mouth, "And no you can't go. Three's a crowd."

"Oh?" asked the young girl with a twinkle in her eye, "is #2 maybe the mystery woman who has been keeping you out lately?"

The older man just rolled his eyes but didn't deny or confirm it. Grinning, he finished the grapefruit before standing up and wiping his mouth with a small white napkin, "Now wouldn't you like to know. Well sweetheart, I'm gonna take off now…don't wait up and try to stay out of trouble."

Callie followed him as he grabbed a hat and headed out the door turning briefly after making sure he had his wallet, "Do you have still have the credit card?"

He had given one to Callie to use; he knew she had no money of her own and the girl nodded her head, "Yeah I do."

"Good. See you later," and with a tip of his hat, BJ Smith was gone and the girl closed and locked the door behind him. Sighing she went out on the deck and stared down at the slowly waking city. Callie wondered what she could do to keep herself entertained today. She had pretty much shopped herself out and wondered vaguely if Frank would like to go rollerblading or something.

But BJ had asked her to keep away from the Hardy's for a few days. She had reluctantly agreed although she wanted desperately to see Frank…but BJ was keeping her from being a street person…so in the end, she finally decided that she would give Vanessa a call and see if she wanted to do something instead.

After all they were best friends.

_**phx**_

Vanessa Bender was still sleeping when her cell phone rang so without checking the call display, she answered the phone groggily, "Hello?"

"Vanessa? Hi it's me…Callie. I didn't wake you did I?" but not really caring whether she did or not, Callie continued, "Anyway I was wondering if you wanted to do something today…you know like go to the mall and then grab a bite at Mr. Pizza's. Just like old times!"

Vanessa froze. Although she had heard Callie was back in town, she had not spoken to her or seen her since Callie had left after the New Year's Eve Fiasco. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized for perhaps the first time, that this was more then Callie Shaw…this was her sister.

"Vanessa? Van?" Callie called out to her and Vanessa shook her head to try and clear the rush of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.

"C-Callie?"

"Don't tell me you were sleeping!" Callie said laughing, "Come on sleepy head. I'll meet you in the food court at the mall in an hour. See you there!" And then before Vanessa could say anything or even recover, her _sister_ hung up the phone leaving her no choice.

It looked like she was going to be seeing Callie in an hour.

_**phx**_

Groaning as his body protested even this slight movement, Joe opened one eye and found himself looking into wide yellow ones. Blinking back the shock, he grinned wryly as he realized who it was that had stolen him from the bliss of a dreamless sleep.

Brutus.

The small orange tabby had come to stay with the Hardy's after the brother's cousin had murdered its mistress, Audri Moore. Fenton an avid cat-lover and had not been able to abandon the now homeless cat to the shelter. He brought it home with him.

"What'cha doing in here Brutus?" Joe asked reaching up to stroke the soft fur. The cat purred and pushed its head underneath the blanket making her intent very clear. The boy couldn't help but chuckle even as he pulled up the blanket to let her under, "This bed isn't hardly big enough for me…let alone you too, " but then he relented, "But seeing you're so cute and everything…"

The cat settled next to his bare chest and he closed his eyes, drifting off again. Frank was going to kill him for letting the cat in his room but then again, Joe figured, he never let the cat in anyway.

However this time something dark was waiting in his dreams.

_**phx**_

"Frank?" Tammy's voice on the other end of the phone made Frank jump. He had almost hung up in embarrassment after asking her mother out by mistake but now that he was sure it was Tammy, he decided to give it one more try.

"Tammy. I was just wondering if…well…if", where was Joe when you needed him, Frank thought as he suddenly found his control of the English language sadly lacking, "well…"

Tammy was instantly concerned by his stammering, "Frank! Are you all right? Did something happen to Joe?"

Her concern broke through his mind muddle and he immediately placated her, "No. Yes…well…It's just well…" and then he just blurted it out, "Will you go to the prom with me?"

There he had said it!

The pause on the other end of the phone was not what he was expecting.

"Tammy?" His heart wildly flip-flopped. Silence wasn't a good thing.

"But Frank", Tammy paused long enough to allow him to get the wrong idea, "I though you were taking my mother?"

"A…b..." his words were cut off as she laughed, "Of course I'll go!"

A wave of relief made Frank sink back in his chair and he smiled for the first time all morning, "Really?"

"No…not really," Tammy joked, "Yes _really_. I would love to go! Actually to tell you the truth I was hoping you would ask."

Sounding stupid, although he couldn't help it, Frank repeated himself, "Really?"

Tammy's laughter was contagious and he found himself grinning like an idiot, "Yes really. Now do you want to give me the particulars or should I just guess?"

Relaxing, Frank filled her in all the details and a half an hour later when he hung up the phone, he felt deliriously happy… that was until he heard a gut-wrenching scream coming from his bedroom.

Joe!

_**phx**_

Joe was dreaming. Or rather having a nightmare.

The cat scattered from his chest as Joe moaned and flung himself up out of bed, a heart-breaking scream wrenched from his lips, "NO!"

Frank burst through the bedroom door just as Joe came to his senses and stood there in his pajama bottoms trying to control his breathing. His hair hung damply around his face as his body was covered in a glistening sheen of sweat.

"Are you okay?" Frank asked as he moved towards his brother. Joe was trembling and held up his hand to ward Frank off as he bent over and worked to control his breathing his eyes still wide from whatever horrors he had just dreamt through.

After a few moments, Joe had recovered enough to speak, "Yeah…" he panted, "bad…dream…"

Frank waited patiently for Joe to calm down although his brow was furrowed in concern. It had been a month now since they had brought Joe home and while he still wasn't sleeping in his own room yet, his nightmares had begun to abate. But now after last nights attack, the older boy was worried that they might be coming back.

His eyes gazed lightly on Joe's back as his brother turned to go to the bathroom and they darkened briefly as he saw the marks that still marred his fair skin. Thankfully, most of them would heal with little or no scarring, but it seemed to be taking a long time. Although he now sported a new, nasty looking bruise across his ribs.

"Are you sure…" Frank sneezed, "you're okay…?" His voice trailed off as he was onset with two more sneezes and he rubbed his eyes, "Joe?"

"I'm fine, Frank", Joe called out.

Another sneeze, "Joe?"

"Frank I said I'm fine", this time Joe sounded a bit irritated. He really hated the hovering. And even though he had a slight headache and was sore all over, he really did feel not to worst for wear.

"Not that. Did you let Brutus in my room?"

The bathroom door opened and Joe peered sheepishly out. His brother was rubbing his eyes and sniffing, "Sorry Frank. She just came in. You must have left your door open."

Groaning, he grabbed the bedclothes off Joe's bed and tossed them in the hamper in the hall. He hated being allergic to the cat and it made matters worst if the cat had been in his room because it was more closed in then the rest of the house.

Usually Brutus preferred to spend her time in his father's study, which worked out good for him…although every now and then she did sneak into his room…

Sighing the older boy started out of him room being extra sure that the door was shut. He was just heading towards the stairs when he heard the phone ring and grabbed it on the second ring, "Hardy residence".

"Hey Frank', came the cheerful voice of Tony Prito, "how's Joe doing?"

"Battered and bruised…but he'll live", Frank answered as he heard the off key singing coming from the shower. He grinned at the irony as he listened to his brother belting out some old tunes, Joe had a good voice and had even sung with choirs on occasion, however for some reason whenever he was in the shower, his voice could not hit one chord to save his life, "Can you tell?" He held the phone from this ear for a moment so Tony could listen and when he put it back he could hear the Italian youth laughing.

"Yeah, god bless Swany River!" and then Tony sobered, "seriously, is he going to be all right? I feel just awful about what happened…I should have trusted my gut instinct when that guy gave me Handover Crescent as an address."

"It's not your fault Tony. The address could have been legit with the way condos have been going up lately. And yes, he'll be fine. No concussion or broken bones. Just a nasty bruise across his ribs, a sore jaw and a bump on the back of the head…he got off pretty lightly all things considered, " Frank speculated as he leaned against the wall.

"Did the police talk to you?" Tony wanted to know.

"Con came to the hospital last night, " Frank answered, "I'll ask Joe to give you a call when he comes downstairs."

"Sure. Actually Frank…" Tony sounded hesitant but continued, "I really hate to ask this in light of what happened last night…but we're really stuck…but Raul's still down with the stomach flu…"

"…and you want him to work tonight", Frank finished for him as he heard the water shut off.

"Not driving", Tony put in quickly, "in the kitchen, Sean could drive…I wouldn't ask but…"Frank cut him off shaking his head although he knew that Tony couldn't see it, "Don't sweat it. I'll ask him but I think he was going to do something with Vanessa tonight."

Frank didn't like the idea of Joe working again tonight but knew that his brother needed to make that decision himself. But it did give him some relief that it wouldn't be as a driver.

Tony grinned. It was no secret that with Vanessa' impending move out of the country, the two had been spending most of their waking hours together. Especially after what happened only a month ago, "Well he could bring Van with him if wants. She could help keep him out of trouble…"

Frank laughed at that mental picture, "Now there's a thought! I'll get him to give you a call anyway. Talk to you later Tony."

The dark haired boy was still chuckling 10 minutes later when Joe came into the kitchen, his hair still damp but now dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

"What'cha laughing at?" he demanded opening the fridge and pouring a large glass of water. Frank watched him for a few seconds before he responded; "Tony wants to know if you feel up to working. They need help in the kitchen. Raul's still down with Montezuma's revenge…Sean's driving."

Joe laughed and almost chocked on his water, "Montezuma's what?"

"You know…stomach flu and all that goes with it", he didn't want to even say the "d" word for fear that his brother would choke on his glass of water.

"Oh that. Frank Hardy…always the funny man, " Joe finished the water and then poured a second glass to drink with his breakfast. He gave it some serious thought before shrugging. His body was still sore but until they knew for sure that it was a personal attack, he was not going to hide out at home.

"I'll give Vanessa a call and see if she's cool with it and then I'll call Tony," Joe said reaching for the kitchen phone but Frank reached out and grabbed his arm, "Whoa cowboy. You can eat first. Mom'll have my hide if you faint or something."

Joe scowled at him but when Frank quirked his eyebrow in a move so reminiscent of their father, Joe shrugged and grabbed a banana. Frank shook his head and then nodded when Joe tossed two pieces of toast in the toaster and peeled the banana, "Satisfied?"

"Never", grinned Frank as he watched his brother hunt through the fridge for some jam after he made quick work of the banana, "I called Tammy."

Joe whirled around in mid chew, "unh?" Hastily swallowing he clarified, "and?"

"And?" the older brother enjoyed teasing the younger one. He cherished these simple, carefree moments that they had after a truly terrifying year.

"Don't make me beat it out of you", Joe challenged pretending to roll up shirt sleeves that weren't there, "I can you know…I've been working out!" Now it was Frank's turn to almost spit out his coffee. Joe had begun to try and slowly rebuild the muscle tone that he had lost since Paul Mitchell's first attack last fall. It was a slow road and while he was still in no shape to make good on his threat, Frank was looking forward to the day when his brother could once again best him in the physical arena.

"Well in that case I'd better try and save myself…she said yes…" Joe grinned and held up his glass of water in a mock toast, "My brother…_The Stud muffin_", he grinned and Frank rolled his eyes. Some days it was very hard to be the big brother.

_**phx**_

"So do you have any idea who attacked you yet?" Vanessa asked after finding out what had happened last night. It took 10 minutes to convince her that he was truly all right.

"Well we have a couple of theories but the bottom line is No. We're going to take a run by Handover Crescent on our way to Chet's house to see if anything was missed. But honestly without a witness we don't' even know where to start. It could have been random…it could have been personal. If it was personal, is it someone from my past or someone from Dad's…?"

"Or", Vanessa added throwing in her own first thoughts, "someone against the Pritos."

Joe's mouth actually fell open in surprise, "_or someone against the Pritos_?" neither he nor Frank had thought about that one, "angel you're a genius! I never thought about that!"

"Yeah", Vanessa continued starting to get excited, "I mean what if your attack and the one on Sean are related…"

Joe picked up on her line of thought, his mind already racing, as the possibilities were staggering, "and if so, then I think I might know where to start. Anyway, thanks angel! I gotta go and talk to Frank."

Vanessa toyed briefly with the idea of telling Joe that she was meeting Callie shortly but decided not to right now. It would just make him worry and distracted when right now he needed all his wits about him if they were going to figure out what happened. She could tell him later.

So with a final promise to talk to each other later, Joe and Vanessa hung up.

_**phx**_

"So what do you think?" Joe asked Frank a few moments later when he told him about Vanessa's theory. The older boy had a thoughtful look on his face before deadpanning, "I think…your girlfriend deserves a better boyfriend."

Joe aimed a playful smack at his brother that Frank easily ducked even as he continued, "however it really doesn't help us much except to open the field even wider. All we can do is hope to find something that will point us in the right direction."

"Well then let's go already! I want to get this over with and head over to Chet's, "Joe grabbed a bottle of water as he spoke and then waited for Frank in the doorway, "Winston sent the stuff I needed yesterday."

Winston Abernathy sent a courier package to Joe every week keeping him apprised of what was going on with PI Ltd., the enterprise Joe had inherited when Pharaoh Plyth died a year earlier. Normally it contained memos, legal papers and other items of non-interest to the 17-year-old…well except for the batch of Mrs. Corradi's homemade cookies that were faithfully included each week. However, this time, the cookies were not the only reason why Joe was excited to receive the package. No, this time there was something else.

Something he wanted to give to the Morton family.

"Patience little one…patience", Frank patronized with a grin as he grabbed his crutches and hopped out of the house, "all in due time."

"You're lucky you're crippled…is all", Joe muttered as he locked the door and followed his brother to their black GMC Envoy.

Frank laughed as he shot back, "Lucky for you that is kiddo."

Moments later the brothers were heading towards Handover Crescent and the scene of the prior nights' attack.

_**phx**_

Joe brushed off a shiver of apprehension as he stood on the exact spot he had been attacked. He closed his eyes and tried to visualize the details up to and including being knocked out before finally shaking his head in frustration.

Vibrant blue eyes locked onto warm dark ones as Joe rubbed his bruised side unconsciously.

Disappointment was evident in his voice, "I can't remember anything…I pulled onto the street and the car tire went flat. I got out and then kaplow! – my world become shades darker," his eyes shone with remorse, "I'm sorry Frank…I…"

Frank reached out and gave his brother's arm a reassuring squeeze, "There's nothing to apologize for Joe. We had to give it a shot. Now let's say we go and talk to the Morton's. I know they're dying to see you."

Joe had stayed with John and Catherine Morton, parents of Frank's oldest friend Chet, for a while during his recovery from his father's tumor induced rage. They were like a second family for him and he had not seen them much since returning to Bayport almost a month ago.

"The feeling's mutual", Joe said turning to go back to the vehicle. His hand patted his pocket to make sure it was still there. He hoped they would accept what he wanted to give them…if not for themselves then for Iola.

_**phx**_

Catherine Morton waved to the boys as she saw the familiar black Envoy pulling up in front of their old farmhouse, "Chet – the boys are here!" she called out to her son who was giving his father a hand in the barn.

Waiting until the boys were out of the truck, Catherine gave Joe a quick little hug as she looked him up and down to make sure he was doing good, frowning slightly when she saw the bruise on his jaw. She was almost as protective of Joe as his own mother was. But he didn't' mind it at all.

"How are you doing Joe honey?" she asked her dark eyes searching his vibrant blue ones for any signs of duplicity. Joe gave her arm a gentle squeeze, "I'm doing good although I must admit I do miss your mint and chocolate chip pancakes".

She smiled as Chet came out of the barn followed by his father. The senior Morton's hadn't seen Joe in a while and John was just as eager as Catherine had been to verify for himself that Joe was doing good.

He was pleased to see how good Joe looked although he frowned when he caught sight of one of the healing whip marks that peaked out above the t-shirt collar, "You're well Joseph?"

"Yes thank you Mr. Morton", Joe said seriously as he held the older Morton's gaze for a few moments. And then looking at each of them for a moment he smiled tentatively. Now that the time had come, he wasn't sure how to do this but Frank came to his rescue.

"Mr. and Mrs. Morton, Chet, Joe has something he wants to talk to you about and I think it might be better if we all went into the house, " Joe shot Frank a thankful look as the Mortons, concern marring their faces, nodded slowly and headed back to the house.

Inside, they seated at the table as Catherine quickly poured coffee for her husband, son and Frank and a glass of water for Joe.

When everyone was seated, Joe started to speak, "You know that I love you guys like my own family…and I have no way of thanking you for what you did for me…" this was harder then he thought it was going to be. No matter how hard he had practiced or how long he had thought about what to say, he had never been able to find the words to express exactly how he felt.

"Joe honey we don't expect thanks", Catherine said quickly as she grabbed his hand in hers and gave it a tight squeeze. Joe looked into her warm brown eyes and his breath hitched…so much like Iola…and he spoke to _her_, "but I do. I expect to thank you because you have shown me the capacity of love and how you can still love someone even after they've hurt you. There is nothing I can do that will bring Iola back…I know that. But there is something I can do make sure that she lives on…"

Reaching into his pocket with his free hand, he pulled out an envelope and passed it to Chet. Catherine and John exchanged looks and even as Chet was starting to read it, Joe continued, "As you know for a little while anyways, I am the beneficiary of a large sum of money. I spoke with my Executor and he has agreed that this is a good thing. With your consent, I would like to place a full Scholarship in the memory of Iola Christine Morton at Bayport University. Each year's recipient will be a girl that is chosen by you, her family."

Chet's eyes bulged out as he read the small legal notice that was contained in the envelope that outlined in legalese what Joe had just said. If they signed it, the Plyth Estate would immediately start funding the scholarship.

"Oh my", Catherine's hands flew to cover her mouth as she sought out her husband's eyes. John had turned white. He did not know what to say – they had never expected anything like this…or done this for any reason other then how much they cared about Joe.

Joe got worried that he had done something wrong as he saw the stricken looks on their faces and he turned to Frank for guidance. Frank grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"We can't accept this", Mr. Morton finally said his voice catching with emotion. _The Iola Morton Scholarship…it was just too overwhelming_, 'that's not why we did this."

"I know", Joe said quickly as understanding dawned on him, "and I'm not doing this because I think I have to. I want to do this…please…let me. I just want…I just…" Joe's voice broke off as he didn't know what to say to express himself. He just wanted the world to know how wonderful Iola was that even in her death she still could give so much to everyone around her.

Immediately the Morton's moved and surrounded Joe. Frank quietly stepped away to give them some privacy. He understood that in no small way, Joe was a part of their family as well and right now this family needed him as their own…not as his brother.

They would accept the scholarship and some lucky girl would get an opportunity to attend university…. an opportunity she might never had had without Iola…Without Iola's death.

Winston Abernathy, the executor of the estate, had not even questioned Joe when he heard the quiet request. He was once again in awe of just what kind of person the young heir was.

Pharaoh would have been pleased.

_**phx**_

"The _Iola Morton Scholarship_", Catherine whispered as she stood in the embrace of her husband. They watched the boys drive away until there was nothing left except the settling dust of the dirt road.

John Morton smiled as he kissed the top of his wife's head, "she would have been very proud of him."

"Yes she would of", Catherine agreed, "she really would of."

_**phx**_

Frank and Joe drove in silence for a while. Frank drove while Joe stared out the window. After a few miles, Frank glanced towards his brother and said with the utmost sincerity, "You did good little brother."

Joe turned back to look at his older brother and graced him with a small smile, "I think so too."

The brothers continued their drive in a comfortable silence. Both were just happy to spend the time together.

Frank's graduation was in two weeks and with it came the fork in the road for the brother's relationship. They would each go their own way – Frank was going to be working with Jack Wayne, their father's personal pilot, flying charters and learning more about airplane mechanics while Joe's plans were a little less definite. And then in the fall, Frank was moving into the University dorms to start his new life as Joe headed into his final year of high school.

Times like these were soon to be few and far between.

_**phx**_

Tammy Connor was still on cloud nine when she got to the mall. Frank Hardy had finally asked her to go to the graduation with him. Finally!

Now all she had to do was find the right dress. She had seen a couple that had peaked her interest but now she had just cause to start some serious looking. However all thoughts about the dress quickly left her mind when the pretty brunette saw her best friend, Vanessa Bender, talking to a gorgeous blond girl. Tammy knew exactly who that girl was. It was Callie Shaw.

Plastering a phony smile on her face, Tammy hurried towards the two girls. Callie was Frank's ex-girlfriend and she was determined that it stayed that way, "Vanessa!"

Turning at the sound of her name the tall ash blond was shocked to see Tammy coming towards them, 'Tammy? What are you doing here?"

The brunette gave her a quick hug, her eyes never once leaving Callie's as she gushed, "Dress hunting! Frank Hardy asked me to go to the Grad with him!"

Fire flashed in Callie's wide green eyes. So this was Frank's new girlfriend. Giving her the once over, Callie huffed – this girl was no match for her that was sure. Before Vanessa could do anything Callie stuck out her hand as she said haughtily, "Well that's mighty nice of you to offer to go with him. But now that I'm back, _you_ won't be necessary."

"Excuse me?" Tammy's tone became dangerous as Vanessa grabbed her arm to lead her away from Callie. Around them a few heads turned at the sound in their voices.

"Tammy. That's Frank's ex. Why don't I give you a call later and you can tell me all about it", Vanessa knew that Tammy would have been very excited to be asked by Frank but right now she couldn't deal with both her and Callie. Especially as it would appear they weren't going to be putting on any pretenses of friendliness.

Tammy pouted, "That's not fair. I want to share my best day with my best friend…"

Vanessa sighed feeling a very big headache coming on. As if having to deal with Callie wasn't enough…"I know and I am really sorry. But Tammy, I really need to talk to Callie…alone."

"Oh I see", Tammy said and started to walk away making the blond girl feel terrible. And she really was excited for her about the grad date.

"Tam, don't be like this," Vanessa pleaded after her retreating friend but the brunette just tilted her head and pretended not to hear. _Oh well_, thought Vanessa before turning back and offering Callie a weak smile, _I'll just have to make it up to her later_.

"Don't tell me that Frank has been slumming with that dreadful girl", Callie scorned watching the disappearing form.

"Callie", Vanessa warned, "that is my best friend you're talking about. I would appreciate it if you could try and be civil."

Callie was shocked, "Your best friend? I thought I was your best friend!"

"Things change", was all Vanessa said as she slumped down in one of the hard food court chairs.

"I guess they do", Callie commented as she eyed her former best friend in a new light, "I guess they do."

_**phx**_

"Betrayed! That is what I was. Betrayed!" Callie ranted to BJ when he finally returned to the hotel, "My own best friend…former best friend! This is all Joe Hardy's fault!"

BJ poured himself a double shot of whiskey and sat down. He found it very amusing to see how upset the teenager was and he looked forward to hearing her logic as to how Joe was to blame for her best friend's change of heart. He lifted the glass and took a sip to hide the smile as she continued ranting, "It would seem that only _his_ girlfriend's best friend is good enough to go out with his brother!"

"_His?_" BJ asked enjoying tormenting her. She really was a very entertaining girl.

"Joe! Who else? It started with Iola and nothing has changed!" Callie was livid and threw one of the stuffed pillows from the couch at the wall.

"The Morton girl?" BJ asked his interest peaked. Of course anything that had to do with Joe Hardy interested him and he was amused at how Callie was able to turn this into a "_Joe-is-out-to-get-me_' thing.

"Yeah. She was my best friend, and Joe's girlfriend, until she died in a car bomb meant for Joe", she left out details that did not suit her logic such as the fact that the car bomb was intended for Frank as well, "but that was okay. I was her best friend and went out with Frank. Then Joe started dating Vanessa and I was her best friend so there was still no problem. But now that Vanessa has a new best friend…where does that leave poor Callie? Off the official list of people who can date Joe Hardy's big brother! AHHHHH" She screamed in frustration before letting herself just drop down on the comfy big sofa in the middle of the hotel room.

BJ shook his head in wonder at her even as his quick mind was trying to see if there was any way he could chisel this into his own plans.

An interesting thought came to his mind… _Hmmm…maybe._

_**phx**_

Biff stood on the doorstep and hesitated before knocking. He hadn't seen Joe or talked to him since the previous night and he was determined to work this out with his best friend.

Frank opened the door when he knocked, "Hey Biff."

"Hi Frank", Biff said feeling awkward, "is Joe home?"

The dark haired boy gave him a sympathetic smile and ushered him in, "He's in my room."

Biff followed Frank upstairs and into the room. Joe was snoozing on the cot but opened his eyes when he heard the door and then sat up when he saw Biff.

"Joe I need to talk to you," Biff started cutting off whatever Joe was going to say so the blond haired boy and just stared at him instead. In truth Joe had no idea what to say to Biff.

Frank looked over Biff's shoulder questioningly at his brother to see if he wanted him to stay or not and Joe gave him a weak nod.

"Okay well if I'm not needed I'm going downstairs to fire up the BBQ", Frank said before stepping out of the room to give the friends some privacy.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room once Frank left. Now that Biff was actually standing in front of Joe he wasn't so sure where he wanted to begin.

Finally after a few long minutes Joe spoke quietly, "I guess pretending that this would never happen isn't working so well is it."

"No", Biff admitted glumly, "I should have spoken with you about me and Jan months ago."

"I suppose so", was Joe's only answer knowing he was just as much to blame as Biff for avoiding the whole topic of Janet Biggerman.

"Joe…" Biff started, "I just didn't want to do anything to cause you more pain after everything that Paul…" he cut off as he saw the slight shudder and amended, "that he put you through. And then well…I don't know what happened but the next thing I know I'm dating Janet and we're having a great time…a really great time."

Joe stared at his own hands as Biff spoke but he didn't say anything so the big blond haired teen continued, "I know that what she and Lisa did was horrible…but she never meant to hurt you and she is so sorry about everything that happened. We have such a great time, Joe…if only you could know her without knowing what you do now."

The younger boy sighed but still didn't say anything and they fell into another uncomfortable silence until Joe finally spoke. And when he did, his words were so soft Biff had to lean towards him to hear what he was saying, "Biff I can't help how I feel. Every time I think I am finally putting this all behind me something else happens to remind me about it all over again. Lisa…Janet…Callie, they changed me." He paused to brush the hair out of his eyes and then continued, "I try and tell myself that they didn't' mean to… but it doesn't matter…the bottom line is that I am not the same person I was last year…and I can never be that person again. When Callie said what she did and then Lisa and Janet spread it, it was like they infected me with a disease that I can't beat. And it's not over."

Tormented blue eyes turned onto Biff and the bigger teen sucked in his breath at the look, "I'm not stupid. At this very moment Ben Mitchell is still out there and I know it's not over. I don't know where, and I don't know when but he is out there and he will come after me. I try not to think about it but when I see them, it reminds me of him…and it scares me."

Alan "Biff" Hooper was finally glimpsed a view into the weight that Joe carried with him and to hear his best friend…the kid who would brazen the very devil himself, admit that he was scared, it cut him to the core. He had no idea just how much Joe was affected by this. He had suspected, but he had never known. Joe had kept it from him…from his best friend. From possibly everyone.

And if Biff felt horrible about all this before, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now, "Oh Joe…"

Joe cut him off, "Please Biff don't. I can't stand it when people go "_oh Joe"_. I don't' want anyone's pity. This is just a fact of life for me and it is something that I alone have to deal with."

"You're not alone Joe. Your family, your friends, we love you. You're never alone", Biff said staring hard into the haunted blue ones, imploring his friend to believe him.

Joe gave him a slight smile as he shook his head, "I know but it's still me that he hates."

Biff didn't have anyway to refute that statement so he didn't say anything for a few moments wishing he knew what to say or do to fix things between them. They'd been close friends for a long time. And then it came to him, "I'll break up with Janet."

Joe looked horrified and Biff was confused, "No Biff. You can't!"

"What?"

"Biff I would feel horrible if you broke up with Janet just because of me. And you'd feel horrible as well. Maybe not today, or even tomorrow but someday you would come to resent me for it. And I don't want that on my plate as well…especially if she is your true soul mate", Joe had already loved and lost his soul-mate when Iola Morton died and he wouldn't do that to Biff, if indeed Janet was the one for him.

"So what do we do?" Biff asked, "To fix things between us?"

"I don't know", Joe admitted, "but maybe trying to be honest with each other over this might be a good start. Heaven knows ignoring it didn't work too well did it?"

"You got that right buddy", Biff admitted, "So I continue to go out with her?"

"You do what is right for Biff", Joe said wisely, "I am your friend but friends come and go thru life. Love…well that's immortal." A small side smile completed the statement and Biff felt a lump in his throat.

"Just do one thing for me", Joe asked and although Biff had no idea what he was going to request, he knew he would do it, or die trying, "don't push this. I'm not ready to have a relationship with Janet. But you are a good friend of mine so I would appreciate it if you could manage to squeeze in a few girlfriend free hours with me every now and then."

Biff laughed, relieved that Joe did still want to be his friend, "Anytime buddy…anytime."

Joe grinned relieved that they finally had this talk, "So what are you doing later?"

_**phx**_

Frank was feeling good. Biff and Joe had patched things up and had decided to go shoot some hoops together at the park by the police station. Tammy Connor was going to be his date for graduation. His cast was coming off soon.

Yes, Frank was feeling good. And then the doorbell rang.

Humming to himself, Frank opened the door and then stared in disbelief at the last person in the world he really wanted to see.

Callie Shaw.

_**phx**_

Frank started to close the door but Callie put her hand against the jam, "We need to talk. Now." Her eyes were dark and serious and reluctantly he let her in although he really did not think they had anything left to say.

Stepping into the Hardy living room, Callie walked towards the fireplace and gazed at each of the photos on the mantel. There were many and most of them were of Frank and Joe.

"Callie what is this about?" Frank asked coming to stand behind her. He really wanted her out of the house before anyone else got home.

Out of the blue Callie asked, "How much do you love your family?"

"What?" Frank said stunned by this apparent left field question. Callie picked up a recent family photo taken just after Joe and Tony showed up home after being abducted by Gerry Moore, "Okay let me ask it this way. Is there anything that you wouldn't do for your family? To keep it together?"

Frank felt a chill creep over him and he asked cautiously, "What is this about Callie?" He couldn't help but notice the picture in her hand.

Tracing her finger along the outline of the people in the picture Callie purred, "What if I told you I knew something that could rip your family to shreds? What would you do to keep that from happening?"

"Callie if you are here to talk in riddles then you might as well leave. I am too tired to play games," Frank said hotly not liking the underlying threat in her innocuous statement.

Callie sighed and placed the picture back on the mantel. Turning to leave she said nonchalantly, "Fine. Give my love to your father…I'm sure you'll see him before I will."

Frank grabbed her arm, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "What the hell does that mean?"

Callie shook loose and then tucked a loose strand of blond hair behind her ears as she spoke, "What can I say? Turns out the great detective is still merely a man…a very virile one at that."

The blood drained from Frank's face as he was too horrified to say anything for a moment. _No, it couldn't be… _

Callie continued, "Oh yes. Didn't he tell you about that? Well I guess he forgot to mention that…either that or he was too preoccupied with beating the crap out of your brother."

Frank's mouth moved soundlessly as his hands clenched into fists, all his restraint being put into not throttling her right now.

"Look I'm not an unreasonable gal. You take me to the Grad and give me a second chance to prove to you that we're perfect together and I'll forget about that one time, hot, steamy island tryst with your father. Sounds more then fair to me", Callie actually smiled charmingly when she said that. It made sense.

"You're…you're lying!" Frank finally found words and vehemence behind them but Callie actually laughed. Winking conspiratorially, she leaned over and whispered something into his ear. He wanted proof…she gave him proof.

The teen staggered under her confession. She wasn't lying.

_**phx**_

When Joe came home he found his older brother sitting in the living room in the dark. He started to turn on the light but Frank's voice made him stop, "Don't."

"Are you all right?" Joe asked suddenly feeling very uneasy over his brother's odd behavior. His brother grunted but never really answered so Joe pushed, "Frank?"

"Just leave me alone okay?" Frank was so upset over Callie's admission that he really did not want to talk to or deal with anyone right now. Joe included. Normally this would have made the older brother feel a bit guilty as he knew how sensitive Joe was right now…but he was too distraught to even be worried about what Joe might be thinking about his behavior. _His father had slept with his girlfriend…ex-girlfriend._

"Frank?" Joe pressed unable to keep the worry out of his voice as his stomach was tied up in knots. He had never seen his brother like this and he couldn't help his own feelings about it.

"Joe. Back off", Frank was fighting a desperate battle. He was trying to keep level headed and cool about this but as Joe pushed, he felt his self-control wavering. He wanted to strike out at someone and unfortunately his brother was getting to close to being the target. Horrified as he realized just how close, Frank jumped up off the couch and pushed past his brother, grabbing the truck keys and his crutches – he needed to get out of the house and now.

But Joe never knew when to give up. His own worry about his brother's behavior overrode his own instincts of when too much was too much.

"What's wrong?" he demanded following his brother out of the house. Suddenly, Frank rounded on him, all the anger and worry of the past year bubbling over his resolve and he exploded, "LIFE! ALL RIGHT LIFE!" Frank was yelling and beyond his own ability to muzzle himself even as he heard the words spilling out of his mouth, "I can't keep going on like this…. fixing everything. I'm not strong enough. I'm only 19! Why do I have to be the strong one…the glue? The one who puts everyone else in front of them and what they want? All I ever wanted was to become partners with you, marry Callie and have a family. But is that possible? NO! Everything is so screwed up I don't even know what way is up anymore. I can't take it anymore, Joe. I can't." He slammed his fist into the side of the SUV as he wrenched open the door and started to climb in.

Behind him, Joe flinched and tried to fight the wave of panic that was consuming him as he heard the anger and resentment in his brother's voice. He didn't react well to other people's anger. Not since his father…

But this was Frank. So pushing past his own fear, Joe reached out to try and stop his brother from leaving recognizing that it would too dangerous for Frank to drive when he was this upset.

"Frank. Calm down", the words sounded alien to Joe as he was the one who was usually on the receiving end of comfort, "Please."

Frank stopped and stared into the worried blue eyes that were beseeching him to stop, but he couldn't. Right now he was mad at the world and although he was loathe to admit it, he was equally mad at Joe. If his brother hadn't looked so much like Remus Plythe, none of this would have happened. And then before he could stop himself, the words he was thinking came from his mouth, "If it wasn't bad enough when I thought you were dead…"

His sentiment was never finished as Joe turned and walked away. The younger brother had heard enough. What he had always suspected was true. Frank would have been better off if he had stayed 'dead'.

Frank watched him go but he had nothing left to give. He knew he had made a mess of everything and this wasn't Joe's fault but right now he did not have what he needed to fix what he had said. But as he saw the house door slam behind his brother, he knew he would have to make it up to him later. Right now, he had some thinking to do.

_**phx**_

Joe walked up to Frank's room, folded up the camp cot he had been sleeping on since returning home, took it down to the garage and then went into his own room.

Sitting on his bed he couldn't repress the shudder as the room felt like it was closing in on him and he fought with the images that threatened to overwhelm him whenever he was alone in this room. The abuse was still very fresh in his mind…but he felt like he had no choice.

He would sleep in here tonight.

Standing up, he quickly changed into his pajama bottoms and tossed his t-shirt into the laundry. Then he went into the bathroom and rummaged through the medicine cabinet until he found what he was looking for. The prescription of sleeping pills that Dr. Bates, his family doctor, had given to him. Popping off the lid, he quickly dry swallowed one and then giving it very little consideration, he swallowed another one. He did not want any trouble sleeping tonight.

_**phx**_

Frank drove for an hour without really going anywhere. His mind was racing with the depth of betrayal he felt about what his father had done… and he was torn.

He knew that his father was not acting rationally when he had slept with Callie, just as he hadn't been when he assaulted Joe. However that did not make it any easier and Frank was finally treated to a small glimpse of the hell that Joe must have went through, and was still going through about all this.

As mad as he was at his father, he understood. But understanding did not make it any easier either.

_It was the tumor…it was the tumor…_Frank kept repeating the words to himself hoping that they would someone give him the strength he could not seem to find.

And then he thought about his mother. If she ever found out it would devastate her. He hadn't been able to do anything to keep his father from hurting his brother…but he could do something about this.

"Damn", he muttered as he finally pulled the SUV over and rested his head against the steering wheel. He was exhausted. The past year had been more draining on him then Frank would ever admit.

In the morning, he would call Tammy and…

"_And what?_" he said aloud, "and tell her my ex-girlfriend is blackmailing me into a prom date? But could you wait around until she gets tired of me..?" Shaking his head, the older Hardy brother sat up and pulled the Envoy back onto the road. It was almost midnight and he had school in the morning.

_**phx**_

As Frank pulled into the driveway, he wondered if Joe was still up. He hoped so because he wanted to talk to him and apologize for venting on him like that. On the drive home he had toyed with telling Joe about their father and Callie but in the end he decided not to. The relationship between Joe and their father was tenuous enough as it was.

No, not yet.

_**phx**_

The lights were off in Frank's room when he opened the door and that alarmed him slightly…but not half as much as when he saw the cot missing from his room. Since returning home, Joe had been sleeping in Frank's room.

"Joe?" Glancing around sharply he poked his head in the bathroom and saw a stream of light coming from under Joe's doorway. Quietly he pushed open the door and stood in the doorway for a few moments.

Joe was sleeping in his own room.

Sighing heavily Frank crossed to his brother's bed and stared down into his sleeping face. The younger boy looked so peaceful and serene that Frank didn't have the heart to wake him, even to apologize. He watched the gentle rise and fall of Joe's chest as he took each deep breath and his gaze lingered on the healing marks visible on his body.

He looked for any sign that Joe might be having trouble being back in the room, but there were none. So with one final sigh, he pulled the blanket up around his brother's bare chest and silently left the room. His hand lingered briefly on the light switch before leaving it on and then closing the door, Frank quickly got ready for bed.

As he fell asleep he couldn't help but notice how much he missed having his brother in the room with him.

_**phx**_

Joe woke up with a headache. He felt hung over and for a few seconds he was disoriented not realizing he was back in his own room. Immediately the walls seemed to close in around him and he quickly jumped out of bed and stood there fighting back the wave of panic.

Once he got his breathing under control he headed into the shower to get ready for school. In the next room he could hear Frank's alarm going off.

_**phx**_

Frank awoke with a start as his alarm blared loudly in his ear. Fumbling with his hand, he managed to turn it off just as he heard the sound of the shower going on in the bathroom that the boys shared. His brother was already up.

Sighing, he closed his eyes for a few moments remembering how hard his brother used to be to wake up in the morning. And how Joe would never get into the bathroom first. Now things seemed reversed and it was Frank who normally was the last one in.

He was not looking forward to today.

15 minutes later, he heard Joe leave the bathroom and he pulled his weary body out of bed. No use putting the day off any longer. But first he wanted to talk to his brother.

_**phx**_

Joe was standing in front of his closet wondering what to wear when he heard the soft knock on the door followed by Frank's voice, "Joe? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Hesitating, he wasn't really sure he wanted to talk to Frank right now particularly as his headache had not improved with the shower. He figured it might have had something to do with the extra sleeping pill he had taken the night before. But then Frank said, "_Please_" and Joe relented.

"Yeah", he called back and then grabbed a black t-shirt and jeans to wear. He was feeling a bit dark today.

Frank stepped into the room as Joe pulled the shirt over his head, "Joe I just want to say that I'm sorry. What I said to you last night was out of line and nasty. I was upset and took it out on you. I am really sorry little brother."

Joe paused and stared at his older brother, "What were you upset about?" The question caught Frank off guard as his brother seemed to ignore his apology.

"What?"

"You said you were upset and took it out on me, " Joe repeated still looking openly at his brother, "So what had you so pissed off?"

Frank opened his mouth to answer and then shut it again not knowing what to say to Joe. He didn't want to tell him about Callie and their father yet.

Joe, misunderstanding his silence, just shrugged and pretended not to care. But deep down he was hurt that Frank didn't trust him enough to tell him what was bothering him, "That's okay you don't have to tell me. Thanks for the apology though."

Flashing the older boy a small smile, Joe pulled on his jeans and then brushed past him to go downstairs, "You better get a move on or else we'll be late", was all Joe said as he passed.

Frank nodded and went into the bathroom. He knew he should give Joe some reason for his action, but he didn't know what to say. He hoped for inspiration in the shower.

His inspiration didn't matter though because when he came downstairs Joe was gone. Frank heard the motorcycle pulling out onto the street and knew his brother wouldn't be riding with him today.

_**phx**_

Joe actually wasn't upset with Frank over what had happened the previous night. No he wasn't upset but he was disappointed. Frank had always been forthright and upfront with him about everything but now he felt that his older brother was hiding something. What it could be, he had no idea.

Now he knew how Frank must have felt whenever things were going on in Joe's life and for one reason or another, he hadn't shared the burden. However, Joe had come to realize just what a mistake his silence had been on too many occasions and worried that Frank's could be equally costly.

His attention was diverted when he saw a familiar car pull up next to him at a red light. Glancing over he caught a glimpse of the driver just before the light turned green and it sped away. Stephen Fell.

Forgetting about Frank's behavior for a moment, Joe remembered he had been wanting to talk to Stephen for a while now and he quickly changed lanes to catch up with the car.

_**phx**_

"Shit", Stephen Fell muttered as he saw Joe Hardy following him. Stubbing out the cigarette he was smoking, he decided it was best to pull over and see what he wanted. The Hardy brothers were nothing if not persistent.

"Hardy", Fell said tersely as Joe pulled over behind him and hoped off the bike and came towards him. He got out of his car and leaned against the side casually.

"Stephen, just the guy I was thinking about", Joe said equally casually as he stopped in front of him. He was relived to see Stephen was by himself knowing it would have been stupid to confront him with his friends, "Bust any heads lately?"

The question caught the older teen off guard and he asked cautiously, "What are you talking about?" He didn't think Joe had seen them…but now he wasn't so sure.

"Sean Todd. You know the black kid that works at Mr. Pizza's. He got jumped in the back alley behind the pizza joint a couple months ago, " Joe saw Stephen's eyes narrow as he continued, "Incidentally enough it was the same kid that you and your friends were harassing at the coffee shop just a short time before. So I thought you might know something about it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about Hardy", Stephen said feigning innocence and lighting another cigarette," I am surprised though that the great investigating team of Hardy and Hardy haven't solved it yet though. Let me know if you find the guys."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe", Joe said. As he was speaking, Joe happened to glance in through the back windows and saw a wooden baseball bat lying on the back seat. An image popped into his head and he just stared at Stephen. He remembered turning in time to avoid the bat but never saw the fist coming that knocked him out.

Stopping in mid sentence, he grabbed Stephen by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the car, "You were the one! You attacked me Friday night!"

Stephen tried to shove Joe off him but the younger boy held him tightly pinned, "You're crazy Hardy! Why would I do that?"

Joe still held him firmly against the car, "I don't know. But whatever game you're playing, you'd better give it up now. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on you and your friends." With one final shove, Joe let Stephen go and started walking away. He wanted to punch his lights out but knew that wouldn't help anything. Frank would have been proud…

As he walked away he never saw the dark and dangerous look cross Stephen's face, "You have no idea who you are dealing with Hardy…no idea…"

_**phx**_

Joe felt a little better by the time he had gotten to school. At least he knew who had attacked him and figured out he knew why. Stephen was probably still sore at Joe having gotten him suspended from school for a year.

_Wait 'til I tell Frank_, he thought but then stopped. He thought about his brother and the stuff he had said last night while he was angry. And yes, he had apologized but Joe knew that in his angry rant there had been some truth.

Everyone did expect that Frank could fix things. And the cost of that constant worry was wearing his brother down. Frank was the strongest person that Joe knew but deep down the younger boy felt responsible for the ever-increasing worry he saw on his older sibling's face. And he vowed to do something about it.

He wouldn't tell Frank about Stephen because he knew that Frank would just get worried about it. He could almost hear his brother's voice in his head…_Are you crazy or just stupid? Confronting Stephen like that…He's dangerous…_

And of course Frank would have been right. The only problem was that Joe couldn't figure out which he was…_crazy or stupid_.

Sighing Joe got off his bike, took off his helmet and headed towards the small group of friends he saw waving at him.

_**phx**_

Callie Shaw was waiting for Frank in the parking lot. He cringed when he saw her. It had been awkward when she returned to school because she was in most of his classes and always tried to sit beside him but now it was going to be worst.

He was going to give her the second chance she so desperately wanted but deep down, as he saw his brother and their friends waiting for him near the school, he wondered at what cost. Frank knew the cost of _not _doing this…he just was not too sure of what the cost would be of doing it.

"Oh well", he muttered walking towards Callie, "I guess I'm going to find out."

_**phx**_

"What's Frank doing?" Chet Morton's girlfriend, Liz Webling, asked when she saw the dark haired boy talking to Callie. Joe turned to see what she was talking about and was equally shocked as he saw Callie's face break into a wide smile as she reached out and lovingly fixed the collar on his shirt. Tony Prito, Sean Todd and Phil Cohen also looked.

"I don't know", Joe said slowly as he saw his brother and Callie walking together towards them, "But I think we are about to find out. Hey Frank!"

_**phx**_

The rest of the day was a blur for Joe as he was in shock over Frank's revelation. Not only was Callie going to be Frank's prom date but they were going to try and work their problems out – a second chance. Joe didn't know how he was supposed to feel about this.

"A penny for your thoughts", a voice broke into Joe's reverie and he smiled as he saw the slender red head slide into a seat next to his in Algebra.

"Hey Amanda, trust me it's not ever worth a penny", Amanda Thompson had been in most of Joe's classes since junior high and more recently she had been on an occasional date or two with Sean Todd, a good friend of Joe's.

Amanda laughed and then turned towards the teacher, Mr. Sikes, as he started writing equations on the board, "I highly doubt that."

"You'd be surprised", Joe managed before Mr. Sikes started speaking and Joe forced himself to pay attention. Frank also had Mr. Sikes and Joe had already learned the hard way that Sikes made no bones about letting the older Hardy know if his sibling was in anyway reprimandable during his class. So Joe sat still, paid attention and tried terribly hard not to wonder what had possessed his brother to start dating Callie Shaw, again.

_**phx**_

_Well that went well, _Frank thought to himself as he sat through a boring lecture on 17th century poets. Joe and his friends had listened in stunned silence as he told them about him and Callie and no one said anything. Not even Joe. It seemed they were stunned speechless.

The only problem was that Frank figured they wouldn't stay that way for very long. However he took what he could get so for now that was okay because he had something hard enough to do after school, as it was.

He had to tell Tammy.

Originally Frank was just planning on calling her but after he got home and tried to dial her number for a long time, he decided it was something he needed to do in person.

He hadn't known Tammy very long but there was something about her that he found endearing and eternal. Although they might seem to have very little in common or even an odd match, Frank felt there was a connection there and he hated what he as going to have to do.

But there was no choice. He couldn't' tear his family apart any worst then they already were.

So before Joe even got home, Frank scribbled a little note, left it on the kitchen table and drove across town to Tammy's house.

This was something he did not want to do but as he held up his hand to knock on the door, he knew the truth of life was that it was filled with us having to do those things we don't want to do.

He couldn't ask her to wait. He could only say good-bye.

_**phx**_

Tammy Connor's face lit up when she saw Frank through the peep hole but seconds after opening the door, her bubbly smile vanished as she read the trauma on his, "Frank's what's wrong?"

"Tammy…" Frank began the longest conversation in his life, "we need to talk."

_**phx**_

"Frank?" Joe burst into the kitchen door half expecting to find his brother there, "Frank?" but he wasn't. Intending to go upstairs, Joe saw the note and sat down as he read it:

Gone to talk to Tammy. Don't hold supper for me. I will be back later. Frank

"Damn", Joe banged his fist in frustration as he crinkled up the note and tossed it in the trash, "what the hell is going on?"

_**phx**_

Tammy stared at him for a long time before she finally said, "Are you kidding me?"

Frank shook his head sadly, "I wish I were."

"But…" Tammy started and Frank cut her off, "There's just a lot of history Tammy. I'm sorry. I really am. But right now this is how things have to be…I'm sorry."

Frank got up to leave but before he could, Tammy grabbed him and kissed him. Surprised, Frank didn't do anything for a moment but then he felt himself responding and pulling her in close, he kissed her back. Their first real kiss…and then he pulled away, "No…please" he begged her, "don't make this any harder then it already is…"

Something flashed in her dark eyes as she said fiercely, "Like hell I won't. Frank…I care for you…more then I've ever cared about any guy before… and that's saying something", she added, "I can't just let you go like this. Not without a fight!'

"No", Frank protested, "You don't' understand. There is nothing to fight." And then before the girl could say anything else, Frank pulled away and was halfway to the Envoy. As he opened the door, he paused for a moment and without looking at her he just repeated sadly, "I really am sorry."

And then he was gone.

Tammy Connor stood for a long time watching the Envoy disappear from sight and then she stood long after it was gone. It couldn't' be happening.

Frank Hardy was the man of her dreams. He had asked her to the prom. What the hell had happened?

And then she saw the image of the gorgeous blond from the mall track across her mind and she sighed.

Callie Shaw.

_**phx**_

Stephen Fell was still furious that evening when he met his girlfriend, Lisa Hann, her best friend Jan Biggerman and his buddies at McDonalds for a burger.

"We need to end this now, " he hissed angrily after he told them about his run in with Joe earlier that morning, "Hardy isn't going to let this drop."

"Yeah", agreed a big beefy guy, "let's do something that they'll never forget."

"Like what?" the other guy asked as he took a long sip from his coke. The unofficial ring leader, he was the oldest of the three. His mother called him Jamie but to them he was Snuff.

"I don't know", the big beefy guy admitted. Thinking was not his strong suit.

The girls listened with growing interest and then Lisa finally said, "What about Graduation night?"

The boys turned to look at her, having almost forgotten that they were here, "What about Graduation night?"

"Well I don't know", Lisa took a sip of her drink before continuing, "but this should have been your graduation as well."

The wheels in Snuff's head began to churn and he grinned as an idea slowly took place. Grinning at Stephen he said, "Well what do you know Fell. Looks like your girlfriend has other talents as well." And then his gaze landed on Janet who hadn't said much, "But what about you Jannie? You gonna run off and tell your boyfriend what we're about?"

All eyes went on her and she shrugged nonchalantly, "Sounds like harmless fun to me. I mean you're not going to hurt anyone. Just give them something to remember, right?"

"Right", three male voices chorused innocently even as Snuff hid a grin behind his burger. Yeah it would be definitely something to remember.

_**phx**_

The next week in the Hardy household was a tense affair. Joe and Frank were hardly talking as Frank refused to tell his brother why exactly he was back with Callie and Joe suspected he was holding back.

Her reappearance was also causing a lot of tension between Frank and his parents as well. Fenton had blown his top when he returned from Quantico and found out they had reunited. It was only his shock at the utter contempt on his older son's face that kept him from throwing her out on his own. Fenton still had not gotten over the fact that Laura had allowed Callie to stay by herself in their house when she had flown west to be with Joe after Tim's attack.

In an attempt to reconcile with his brother over this, Joe and Vanessa invited them to Mr. Pizza's Friday night for some pizza.

"So are you excited about the graduation?" Joe asked as he sipped a cold glass of ice water. The brothers had gotten to the pizzeria early and Joe was hoping to get some straight answers out of Frank before their dates arrived. But so far, Frank was preoccupied and evasive and Joe was just about to give up when they saw Callie drive up.

"Excuse me", Frank said abruptly, ignoring Joe's question as he stood up and went out into the parking lot to greet his girlfriend. Joe watched them with growing interest.

Something was wrong with the whole picture but he couldn't quite put his finger on it…yet. Frank insisted that he wanted to give her a second chance yet that was not the impression that Joe got as he watched the couple.

A pretty good judge of his brother's facial expressions, he recognized the long-suffering look that Frank was already wearing. It was the same one that Joe thought was especially reserved for him during their tutoring sessions (or torturing sessions as Joe called them as Frank had been giving him a lot of help to catch up during the year).

He couldn't figure it out. Frank had been so excited about going out with Tammy Connor. It just did not make sense that he would then dump her and go back with Callie. No sense at all.

"A penny for your thoughts" a soft voice broke through his observations and Joe tore his gaze away from the couple and towards the beautiful ash blond that slid into the booth beside him.

"Hardly worth a penny but I'll give you one guess", he indicated Frank and Callie who now appeared to be in an animated conversation with Callie doing most of the talking and Frank shaking his head.

"Oh", Vanessa said as she watched her half-sister for a few moments. She had only just found out that her real father was Reginald Shaw and knew that Callie was still unaware of it. She sighed in disappointment as she figured that whatever reason Frank had for giving her a second chance, it probably wasn't voluntary. Vanessa just couldn't figure out why Callie wouldn't face facts. It was over between her and Frank.

"What really peeves me off is that I hate to think that his graduation is going to be ruined because he's going with Callie. I mean look at them. You can see it. He doesn't want to be with her!" Joe sat back in frustration, "Graduating from high school comes only once in a lifetime…"

Vanessa was quiet, in total agreement with her boyfriend as he continued, "I wish there was some way I could keep her from going…you know detain her or something. Nothing bad, mind you. Maybe just sitting on her for a few hours or something, " he added quickly lest Vanessa think he wanted to hurt her sister.

The ash blond laughed as she pictured that and then a sly smile graced her beautiful face, "Well it's not exactly sitting on her…but I think I know something else that might work just as well."

Interest piqued, Joe leaned in close as Vanessa whispered conspiratorially in his ear. After a few moments, he looked at her seriously, "Are you sure? I mean I don't want to push you about this…"

Vanessa placed a slender finger on his lips, "It's okay. I want to do this. It is the least I can do considering all the times Frank has been there for me."

Joe leaned over and kissed her tenderly, "Angel you are really something…what am I going to do without you?"

Vanessa didn't say anything. She just enjoyed his embrace, and affection. Her days in Bayport were now mere weeks and she was wondering the same thing. What was she going to do without him?

_**phx**_

"Oh come on Frank…it'll be fun", Callie tried to entice her reluctant boyfriend who just folded his arms and looked at her like she had just sprouted three heads.

"Callie, is the word NO even in your dictionary?" he asked sarcastically and she just laughed and reached out to touch his face tenderly, "Silly Frank, you know it isn't."

Frank pulled away and scowled at the girl, "I never enjoyed spending time with your father much before, let alone now that he's in jail for attempted murder. Trying to murder my brother nonetheless! Callie, are you crazy!" the dark haired boy was livid. He couldn't believe she was even suggesting this!

"I am his only baby, Frankie", he hated when she called that, "and it would be under the strictest supervision…" Frank cut her off abruptly, "NO Callie, I am not even going to ask. There is no way in hell I am going to ask my family if they will endorse a special privilege so your father can attend the graduation! He tried to kill my brother…and he shot you! Are you completely mad!"

Shaking his head in frustration, the boy was almost at the point of not going to the graduation himself. And now to top it off, Callie figured if the Hardy's signed a waiver saying they were okay with Reginald Shaw being in attendance at the event, under strict police supervision of course, he would be able to come. Reginald did know some very powerful people.

Callie changed tactics and purred without skipping a beat, "well maybe I am asking the wrong Hardy…maybe if I asked your father…"

"Back off", Frank growled and Callie, realizing that she might have went too far started to apologize, "I'm sorry Frank…I shouldn't have said that. It's just…well…it's important to him…and to me."

"Well he should have thought about that before he tried to kill my brother," Frank shot back, "and Tony and Vanessa."

Callie scowled as she said sulkily, "Well if that is how you feel…"

"It is", Frank said shortly.

Like hot and cold, Callie smiled brightly and looped her arm through his, "Come on, I'm starving!"

Walking into Mr. Pizza's, Frank sighed heavily. He now knew what living hell felt like. The only bright spot was when he saw Joe and Vanessa smiling and waving at them. At least they were people he wanted to spend time with.

_**phx**_

Two days before the prom Frank got his cast off but Joe wasn't there…Callie was. His younger brother had started helping out more at Mr. Pizza's, probably to spend as little time around Callie as possible. Indeed, on the surface it seemed as it nothing had changed and Callie waltzed back into their lives without a hitch. But that was just the surface.

And on what should have been one of the happiest days of his life, Frank found himself looking sadly into the mirror at the reflection. _This is pathetic; _he thought miserably, _I should be delirious with joy instead of dreading this whole evening._

Downstairs, his parents were already waiting and he could hear Joe moving around in his own room. Joe and Vanessa were going to hang out at Mr. Pizza's for the evening and Frank found himself wishing that he was going with them. But instead, he was going to be meeting Callie at the school and then they would put on a happy face. All of them were.

A quiet knock came on the bathroom door and he heard Joe's voice call out to him quietly, "Frank? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Frank tensed before answering as casually as he could, "Sure just give me a minute". And then after one final hair check, Frank opened the door and stepped into Joe's room.

_**phx**_

Tammy Connor could not remember ever feeling so miserable in her whole life. She should have been getting ready to go to the Bayport High Graduation but instead she was sitting at home with a box of Kleenex and wondering if wishing she had a voodoo doll made up like Callie Shaw was over the top.

She was so hooked up in her own self pity that she didn't hear the doorbell until her mother poked her head into Tammy's room, "Honey there's someone here to see you."

Before Tammy could tell her mom that she didn't want to see anyone, Vanessa Bender stuck her head into the room and grinned, "So girl, are you still interested in going to a certain Frank Hardy's graduation…as his date?"

Tammy stared at her in disbelief. Of course she still wanted to go, "But how? Isn't he going with Callie?"

The blond smiled slyly, "Let's just say that I have it on good authority that a certain Callie Shaw will be tied up with family matters this evening and will not be in attendance."

The brunette did not really care about the details. She just wanted to spend time with Frank…anyway she could…and even it if were just for a couple of stolen hours.

"Well you'd better get dressed then", Vanessa smiled knowing the unspoken answer and then anticipating the distress she saw on her friend's face, the blond girl pulled out a garment bag and laid it on Tammy's bed, "and just in case you don't have any prom ware just lazing around, I thought this might do."

Tammy zipped open the bag and her hands flew to her mouth. Crying she grabbed her best friend in a tight hug, "Thank you Van…oh thank you!" The black strapless evening gown was simple but perfect.

Vanessa turned to leave but then she turned and fished out a plain white envelope with the word FRANK hand written on it, "Oh before I forget when you see Frank give him this."

In total shock at this turn of events, Tammy just nodded and took the envelope and then as she watched her friend leave, she turned back to the dress.

Frank Hardy had no idea what was in store for him.

_**phx**_

Joe was sitting on his bed but stood up when he saw his older brother. Letting out an appreciative whistle he couldn't help but grin, "You clean up real good, big brother." Frank rolled his eyes although he did appreciate the compliment. Attired in a black tuxedo, the dark haired young man would have made James Bond green with envy, "Thanks kiddo…I think. Anyways what'cha want? Mom and Dad are waiting…"

"Yeah…yeah", Joe chimed as he walked over to his computer desk top drawer and opened it. Rummaging through some papers, he finally found what he was looking for and staring at it briefly, he turned and passed it to Frank.

It was a small gift box, carefully wrapped with an ostentatious red bow on the top.

Frank looked down at it in surprise. He did not know that Joe had gotten him anything. As he glanced back up at his brother with shiny eyes, Joe spoke softly, "Congratulations Frank. I have never been prouder…" the younger boy paused for a moment before continuing, "Look I can't always say I know why you do some of the things you do…" Frank watched him carefully knowing he was referring to Callie, "you know me…I'm not good on reason. But with heart…well…" Joe smiled and his brilliant blue eyes shone with sincerity, "but you are my big brother and my best friend. So no matter what you do…or chose, I will stand behind you…You are my brother and as long as you are happy…then I'm okay with it."

With two steps, Frank had crossed the room and holding the gift in his hand, he managed to grab his brother in a tight hug, "Thank you…" was all he could get out. Joe let his brother hug him for a few moments before pulling away, "Well are you going to open it or what?"

As Frank started to open the wrapper, Joe put in, "It isn't much…now remember. It's the thought that counts…"

And then Frank had the box open and he was stunned. Wordlessly he looked at his brother for some explanation and Joe shrugged offhandedly, "You'll need it more then me."

It was Joe's key to their shared GMC Envoy.

"But what are you going to drive?" Frank asked still not believing it.

The younger boy shrugged his shoulders casually, "I got my bike or I'll just use Mom or Dad's car. It's no big deal. However…" Joe pushed the focus off himself. This night was about Frank not him, "You're the one who's going to be living across town. And now you'll have no excuse for not coming in to tuck me in bed each night", Joe said the last part with a big grin as he started to shove his brother towards the door, "Now git. I got a date!"

Frank was still shaking his head in disbelief five minutes later when he back the black vehicle out of the driveway with his parents following close behind in their own car…_this was his truck now…not his and Joe's…but his._

The only thing marring his happiness was Joe's voice in his head saying over and over again…y_ou are my brother and as long as you are happy…then I'm okay with it…_

The big problem was that Frank _wasn't_ that happy with it.

_**phx**_

Callie finished checking her makeup and headed for the door. As she opened it she was surprised to see Vanessa Bender standing in the doorway, "Vanessa? What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk", Vanessa said firmly waiting to be invited in. Callie glanced at the time, "Un, can't this wait? I've got to get to the school."

She started to push past the other girl but Vanessa put up her arm to stop her, "No. We need to talk now."

"_The graduation_!"

"Now", Vanessa was determined to get this over with and was only too glad that this opportunity was forcing her to finally confront Callie with the truth.

Pissed Callie turned and huffed back into the suite, "Fine. Come in. But make it quick. I have a date!"

"Oh this shouldn't take too long at all", Vanessa purred although her insides were clenched in tight knots. She was about to become a sister.

_**phx**_

Frank glanced impatiently at his watch. Where was she? He fretted as he waited impatiently. Trust Callie to try and be 'fashionably late'. He was still grumbling 10 minutes later when a voice behind him made him jump.

"Anyone here in need of a prom date?"

Turning, he was stunned by the beautiful vision standing behind him, "T-Tammy? What? What are you doing here?"

Tammy laughed and it was a musical sound to Frank who now glanced around nervously expecting Callie to pop out and create a scene at any second. He started to say something when Tammy passed him the envelope that Vanessa had given her. Questioningly, Frank opened it and then such a feeling of warmth spread over him he thought he must be dreaming.

The note was from Joe.

Big brother, you have the rest of your life to screw up but this one night in your life should be about magic.

Tammy is magic.

Joe.

PS – Callie has been unavoidably delayed. I'll explain later. Have a great time. Pretend you're me or something!

Frank swallowed back his emotion as he carefully folded up the note and put it into his pocket. Then extending his arm he smiled, "Come on. Everyone's waiting."

And so began one of the best nights in Frank Hardy's life.

_**phx**_

As Vanessa tried to find the words to tell Callie the truth she thought about the one time she had seen Reginald Shaw since finding out her true lineage.

Joe had driven her to the penitentiary and waited in the parking lot. She knew he would have gone in with her if she had asked but she didn't. It was something she needed to do by herself and she would never put Joe through that. He had been hurt too many times; he did not need to see the man who tried to kill him.

Reginald had been expecting her as Andrea had already been to see him. She felt it was something that she needed to do and should have done a long time ago. So Vanessa had been spared that detail. But it still had been very awkward and in the end she left feeling angry and betrayed as Reginald had been smug and cold hearted.

"_So what do you want from me?" he asked nastily as he picked at a hang nail, "I already have a daughter. One is more then enough."_

"_Did you love her?" Vanessa wanted to know and when Reginald looked at in confusion she clarified, "My mother…Andrea. Did you love her?"_

_Tilting back his head, the man began to laugh as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard and then he managed to gain control of himself. Leaning in closely to the pane of glass that separated them, he said softly into the phone, "Of course I did…whenever she was in the right position!"_

_Disgusted, Vanessa got up and turned to leave. She glanced once more over her shoulder to see him smirking at her and resolved to never have anything to do with him again. She could not understand how her mother could have ever loved him. And her heart went out to her mother as she knew that Andrea was still in love with Reginald._

_Her mother had been played a fool._

"What do you want Vanessa?" Callie asked impatiently. She had to meet Frank!

Taking a deep breath, Vanessa just blurted it out, "My mother and your father had an affair and Reginald Shaw is my father too."

Callie was stunned into silence so Vanessa summed it up for her, "Callie, you're my half sister."

_**phx**_

Joe hopped off his bike and walked into Mr. Pizza's. A bunch of his classmates had agreed to spent the evening at Mr. Pizza's to celebrate the current grads and to talk about their upcoming one in the next year.

Stopping to talk to a few people and waving at many others, Joe realized that Mr. Prito must have closed the place to the public as he saw only fellow classmates and their dates at the tables.

Glancing at his watch, he knew he had some time to kill before Vanessa got here so he decided to go in the back and torment Sean. A good friend, Sean Todd was working in the kitchen tonight to help cover for Tony who was graduating. Another noticeable absence was Mr. Prito who was at the graduation leaving Raul in charge.

"Glad to see you looking so well", Joe tormented Raul when he walked in the kitchen.

"Ha Ha always the funny man. You here to work? If not, outta my kitchen!" Raul was surly because his uncle had requested that he stay in the restaurant tonight to supervise instead of doing the deliveries. A born pizza delivery man at heart, Raul hated being stuck in the store and it resulted in his normally cranky disposition being cranked up a notch.

Joe ignored him and went over to talk to Sean, "It sucks you're working tonight. You should be hanging out front with the rest of us. Word has it Amanda is coming." Amanda was a girl that Sean had started seeing casually.

The handsome black youth rolled his eyes, "Oh thanks a lot Hardy. You should just thank your lucky stars that you're not working back here tonight with Raul the Rotten." Joe laughed as he grabbed one of the pizza's coming out of the oven and popped it into a box for his friend.

"Hey you better get back out front before Raul recruits you to work. He's chomping at the bit to do a delivery. Mr. Prito promised that he would come over right after the dinner and let Raul out of the kitchen. I swear to god, he's like a puppy that you have to come home and let outside to pee or else it will chew it's leg off or something!", Sean cautioned as Raul shot him a dirty look before answering the phone and putting on a pleasant voice.

"Thanks for the warning. I better go out and wait for Vanessa anyway," Joe left the kitchen and managed to find a small private booth across from some of the juniors on the football team. They turned around to talk to him while he waited and made him feel good as they told him how much the team missed him and hoped he would be playing again in the fall.

_**phx**_

It was almost an hour later before Vanessa was finally able to meet up with Joe at Mr. Pizza's. All things considering, Callie had taken the news pretty well. Especially since she did not believe Vanessa.

"_You're lying!" Callie screamed, "I'm not sure what little joke you think you are playing on me and my father but I will not allow it. Did Joe Hardy put you up to this? He did didn't he?" _

_Vanessa was shocked. This had nothing to do with Joe, "No Callie. Joe has nothing to do with this. My mom had an affair with your dad. She still loves him."_

_Seething, Callie stormed around the suite glaring angrily at the other girl from time to time. It reminded Vanessa of a caged tiger she had seen at the zoo once and she started to become concerned that Callie might try to do something to her. But Callie just continued in her angry tirade of denial, "It's impossible. You know what the problem is? The problem is that your mother doesn't know who your father is…and now she's trying to pin it on mine! She's a harlot!"_

"_Now wait one second", Vanessa felt her own ire rising. How dare she call her mother names, particularly in light of her own father's behavior, "Excuse me, my mother wasn't the one screwing around on her husband. Your father chose to have an affair with her…while your mother was pregnant with you! My mother was in love!"_

_Callie was furious, "Get out. Get out right now! You're lying. I don't want to talk to you! GET OUT!" Picking up an empty coffee mug she pitched it towards Vanessa who managed to slip into the hall just as the mug hit the doorway._

"_Well I think that went rather well", she said sarcastically to herself before going downstairs and heading over to Mr. Pizza's._

_Behind her, she heard Callie's anguished voice, "I WANT MY DADDY!" and suspected the Mr. Shaw was going to be seeing his daughter very soon._

_**phx**_

Frank was having the time of his life. All during the dinner and ceremony he couldn't take his eyes off Tammy. She was stunning and within moments she had his parents under her spell as she charmed them.

As he danced next to Tony and his girlfriend, Sophia, he noticed that the senior Prito's had left already.

"Where's your folks?" he asked Tony and the Italian boy mouthed 'Work' and Frank nodded. That was one of the things about owning a pizza joint, it never gave you much time off. Even on a night like this but at least the Prito's had been able to stay up to the dance.

His own parents were dancing on the other side of them and as the song ended, his father approached them, "Well congratulations son. I know it's early but I think we're going to call it a night. I gotta fly to Detroit first thing in the morning."

With a final round of hugs, kisses and well wishes, Mr. and Mrs. Hardy left the dance and Frank turned his full attention back to his date. As she nuzzled his neck for a slow dance he made a mental note that he owed his brother big time for this. Although he was curious how in the world he managed to get Callie to forfeit going to her own prom.

_Oh well_, he thought, _I'll find out later._

_**phx**_

BJ Smith was surprised to come back to the suite and see Callie sitting out on the balcony in her housecoat and slippers. She was sipping something that looked suspiciously like a martini and when she turned her red rimmed eyes on him, he knew she was drunk.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently as he removed his diner jacket and draped it over the back of the couch.

"Everything!" the girl sobbed as she took another drink.

"Why aren't you at your graduation?" he saw her dress had been thrown carelessly onto the bathroom floor.

"Because of Joe Hardy! He's done it to me again!" she bawled. Grabbing a bottle of beer, BJ joined the distraught young woman on the balcony and listened as she told him how it was all Joe's fault.

Later as he tucked the drunk girl into her bed, he found it amusing how she was able to turn everything into a "joe-is-out-to-get-me' tirade, even something as innocuous as her father also being Vanessa's. Shaking his head in wonder, he turned off the light and closed her room door thanking his lucky stars that he had only ever had a son.

_**phx**_

Joe and Vanessa were having a great time. It was hard to believe that in two more weeks she would be gone. Andrea had found them a small flat in downtown Vancouver and had already started to ship some stuff there. So they tried to enjoy every moment they could together.

Vanessa excused herself to go the bathroom and Joe took the time to look around at some of the other people in the restaurant. Everyone was having a great time and he wondered how Frank and Tammy were doing.

The sound of glass breaking tore Joe from his reverie and he quickly glanced around to see what was wrong, horror filled his heart – someone had thrown fire bombs into Mr. Pizza and the flames were quickly spreading even as he heard someone shout "FIRE!"

Immediately pandemonium broke out in the small pizzeria as the many young people tried to get out the doors.

"VANESSA!" Joe screamed trying to be heard above the commotion as he desperately pushed his way towards the bathroom. His heart was racing even as the flames were quickly engulfing the restaurant. He knew they needed to get out of here now!

His relief was unlimited when he saw her open the door and step out. He grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards the kitchen – it was their closest exit.

Vanessa's eyes widened in horror as she saw the flames and now heavy smoke.

"Cover…your…mouth", Joe coughed as he pulled his own shirt up over his face so that his mouth and nose were covered. Already his lung was burning and he knew that he needed to get out of here quickly as he was at severe disadvantage…but not until he made sure that Vanessa was safe.

Nodding in understanding, the girl did the same and allowed her boyfriend to guide her through the quickly filling smoky store. Having worked in the store when the Prito's required extra help, Joe knew his way around the store with his eyes closed. At that was a good thing because by the time they got to the kitchen, the smoke was overwhelming.

Pulling Vanessa down after him, Joe ignored the burning in his lung and crawled towards the back door. In the distance he could already hear the sound of fire trucks and hoped they got here in time. It would be a shame if Mr. Pizza's was lost.

Coughing, the two lunged through the back door and then Sean was there grabbing them and pulling them away.

"Oh man", he said in relief when he saw Joe and Vanessa were okay, "You had me worried…I was just getting ready to go back in and look for you!" He had been in the kitchen when the fire started and Mr. Prito had sent him next door to call the fire department. And then looking around at the handful of other people in the alley he noticed one was not among them. Turning back to his friend who was leaned against the side of the wall taking in deep breaths and coughing out the smoke, "Did you see Mr. Prito?"

Joe froze. His eyes instantly looked around and he saw the same thing as Sean – Aldo Prito was not in the back alley with them.

_**phx**_

The timing was perfect. The music was perfect. The moment was perfect.

Frank Hardy leaned in to kiss Tammy Connor and just as their lips met the music stopped as a voice screamed, "MR. PIZZA'S IS ON FIRE!"

_**phx**_

"Maybe…he's…o..out front", Vanessa coughed as she sat on the ground and looked up at the two boys.

Sean and Joe locked eyes. Of course she could be right…without a second thought Sean was racing around to the front even as Joe already knew the answer. Aldo would still be in the store. He would try and save it.

The sound of the fire trucks was getting closer but Joe knew they would not be in time and as he saw the look on Sean's face moments later as he rounded back into the alley, the younger boy was already pulling the shirt back up over his face and rushed back inside.

"JOE!" he heard Vanessa screaming his name but even as she did he knew it did not matter. He could not idly wait outside as long as there was any chance that he could save his friend's father…there was nothing inside him that could.

Sean burst past Vanessa and followed Joe back into the smoky kitchen. Part of him knew he was crazy but the other part of him knew he was right. Mr. Prito had been more like a dad to him then his own.

"The backroom!" Sean yelled at they ducked down to try and stay below the smoke. Aldo had been going to get the heavy-duty fire extinguisher that he kept back there when Sean had left. The restaurant was fully ablaze and Sean just prayed that Mr. Prito wasn't out there somewhere…they would never find him.

Joe tried to pull open the door but couldn't. His body was reeling from the amount of smoke he had already inhaled and his lung was brutally protesting but he couldn't give up. Not yet.

Sean grabbed the handle and between the two of them, they managed to pull the door open.

"MR…PRITO!" Joe coughed as he stumbled into the room and looked around. The backroom was where all the stock was kept and where the large walk in freezer was. Because of the heavy door that separated it from the kitchen, there was very little smoke in here yet and both boys lowered their shirts and took in deep choking lungful of air.

However the respite was brief as they were horrified to realize that Tony's father was not in the storeroom. He must still be out in the restaurant somewhere.

Grief consumed Joe as he had seen how engulfed the seating area was and knew that if Aldo was out there…

"NO!" he screamed his mind replaying the fireball that had consumed Iola. He could not lose someone else he loved like this.

Sean was shocked by his friend's sudden change as the teen in front of him suddenly became hysterical and tried to push past the bigger boy to get to the restaurant. He started to follow when he realized what Joe meant to do and while he did want to do everything possible to save Mr. Prito, he saw what his friend was refusing to.

If Mr. Prito was in the seating area, he was already past their help.

Recovering just as Joe meant to push past him, Sean grabbed his friend and pulled him back. His eyes darted around for a safe escape route as he briefly wrestled with Joe, easily subduing the weakened youth. Joe had not fully recovered his strength from the events of the past couple of months, and was already short winded by the amount of smoke in his system, so Sean did not have that much difficulty….

However, he did have another problem. The fire had spread to the kitchen and there was no safe pathway to the door. They were stuck.

"JOE!" He yelled trying to get his friend to listen to him even as Joe still tried to pull away, "_We' re trapped_!" Something in his voice brought Joe back to the present and he realized with sickening horror too many things all at once…Aldo Prito was probably already dead…he had failed, again…and that Sean was right.

There was no longer a safe way out…Mr. Pizza's would be their tomb.

Stubbornness stepped up in the place of overwhelming odds and Joe shouted, "Close the door!" even as more smoke began to fill the storeroom. Sean let his friend go and closed the door locking them inside the room. He kept a watchful eye on Joe in case the blond boy decided to try and make a run for it again.

But Joe was busy as he went into survival mode. He had gone through to too much to give up that easily. Like a madman he became ripping open boxes until he found the one he was looking for – employee uniforms!

He began pulling out the clothing and tossed them to a startled Sean.

The other youth quickly caught on though as Joe bust open a case of bottled water and began dousing the uniforms to make them wet.

"On the floor…in front of the door", Joe wheezed as Sean hurriedly pushed them into place. The younger Hardy broke open more water and tossing a couple of bottles to his friend he continued, "Soak yourself."

The fire extinguisher was gone and Joe felt a lump in his throat as he realized that Mr. Prito must have taken it to try and save the pizzeria. Pushing the emotion aside, he turned back to Sean and offered what he hoped was a hopeful smile, "Okay… now we just wait." His body was exhausted and between coughing and gasping, his work was cut out for him just to stay conscious. It was a harsh reminder of how much out of shape he was in now and he made a determined vow that if…_when_ they got out of this, he was going to get himself back into shape. Lung be damned!

Sean's expression asked what his voice did not and the Joe managed a chuckle, "Believe it or not…I've been in… worst then this…" his voice trailed off sadly but then he grinned pushing the memories aside for now, "Besides…you've met my brother…he's moved heaven and earth before…a pizzeria shouldn't be a problem…"

A tense smile graced the other boy's face. Joe offered a thread of hope and Sean was only too happy to grab a hold of it.

Joe just prayed that he was right.

_**phx**_

Frank Hardy was stunned. It couldn't be. Mr. Pizza's was burning on Prom night. This was supposed to be the happiest night of his young life – a celebration of all his hard work through the years – the stepping stone to maturity…graduation.

But no. Instead he and many of the other grads were rushing towards their favorite high school hangout where so many people they loved and cared for were celebrating for them.

His thoughts were on Joe. His younger brother and his girlfriend would be there and he just knew that somehow right in the thick of things was where he would find his brother.

But this time instead of worry and anxiety there was just a settled resignation. Joe would be in trouble and he would save him….for some reason, whether it was just tiredness or emotional exhaustion, it never occurred to Frank that this time he might be too late…

Tony Prito and his girlfriend, Sophia were riding with him and Tammy and he felt for his Italian friend. Mr. Pizza was more then just a favorite hangout…it was his home. His father's pizza joint. And Mr. Prito was working there tonight. The elder Prito had come to the dinner but then left before the dance because he was needed at the restaurant. Tony didn't mind. He understood.

Frank stopped the truck by the side of the street and the four of them jumped out and ran towards the inferno that was Mr. Pizza's. His glance saw Vanessa's Explorer and Joe's motorcycle, and his keen eyes scanned the crowd of spectators for any sign of her or his brother…although deep down he knew Joe would not be outside.

"FRANK!" a scream a second later confirmed his suspicions as Vanessa saw him and pushed her way towards him. Her face was covered in soot and she was wrapped in a blanket but seemed none the worst for wear. And then his worst suspicions came true even as he heard Tony's sharp intake of breath beside him, "Joe and Sean are inside…they went in looking for Mr. Prito!" And then she saw Tony and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry Tony".

Tony felt numb inside. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel as he looked at the place that he had loved and felt like a part of himself was burning with it, knowing that his father and two of his friends were still inside. If he had been more like Joe, he would have tried to get back inside but deep down he was more like Frank, so he stood there numbly and waited for the nightmare that he found himself in to disappear. This couldn't be happening.

Frank was already heading around to the back of the alley when the fire department stopped him, "You can't go back there."

"My brother's in there…and his father owns this place", Frank's tone brooked no nonsense and for the first time in his young life, when the fireman looked at the one who stood in front of him, he did not see a teenage kid…he saw a man. A man who looked uncannily like a younger version of his own father….Fenton Hardy.

The fireman indicated for him to follow him as he led Frank and Tony towards the fire chief. Tammy grabbed Vanessa in a supportive hug never minding that the soot was getting on her beautiful lacy dress as Sophia laid a comforting hand on Vanessa's shoulder. She was not normally demonstrative but somehow it just felt right, even as her dark eyes watched her boyfriend carefully. She had a horrible feeling that things were not going to turn out very well.

The fire chief looked in sympathy at the two young men standing in front of them. He could tell by there tuxedos that they had been at their prom and now he had nothing good to tell them. Nothing to ease the worry and tension he could see etching themselves on faces so young.

"I'm sorry…I've got people inside but so far nothing."

Frank felt hollow. For the first time it suddenly occurred to him that Joe might not be saved this time.

Just then a commotion of firefighters drew there attention as they came from the building. They were carrying someone.

Frank and Tony tried to push their way past the chief to see who it was it…and then there hearts stopped. It was Tony's father. Aldo Prito. And he was dead.

The world around the young Italian swam sickeningly and he would have fallen if not for Frank's quick reflexes. In shock himself, the older Hardy had barely registered that Tony was falling in time to catch him.

"Oh no…oh no", that was all Frank could say as his mind was reeling – where was his brother?

_**phx**_

"We got survivors! Get some oxygen up here NOW!" a shout chorused through the firefighters around the two boys and Frank dared to hope. In his arms Tony was just staring blankly at the stretcher that was now loading his father's body aboard an ambulance. Numbly he pushed away from Frank and started to walk towards it – he needed to go with his father.

Nodding, Frank understood even as his eyes quickly sought out Sophia DeSilva's and to his relief he saw her moving towards Tony. She would take care of him. Although they were not close, he knew that Sophia, in spite of her oft times maddening persona, loved Tony and she would make sure he wouldn't be alone. Right now, as much as his heart anguished for his friend and the loss of someone he found quite dear, he needed to stay here. His brother was still missing.

Vanessa and Tammy moved beside him and he quickly pulled his brother's girlfriend into his strong embrace as he felt Tammy's gentle touch on his arm, offering him her quiet support.

And then he saw a lone figure being guided from the smoldering ruins by firefighters. An oxygen mask had been placed over his face and he was having trouble moving on his own. Frank's heart clinched. It was not Joe…it was Sean.

He had not realized his brother's new friend had been in the fire and Vanessa sensing his question, turned up to look at him as she said quietly, "Sean went in after Joe."

"Oh great", Frank remarked dryly, "Joe's got himself a friend as crazy as he is."

Responses weren't heard as a second later, a second survivor was brought out and Frank felt his heart drop. This one wasn't walking at all but being carried by his rescuers and from Frank's position, it looked as if he were dead. It was Joe.

"JOE!" he rushed forward only to be caught by the fire chief who was standing in front of him.

"Easy kid", the Chief said, "let them do their job first."

The fire fighters gently laid Joe down on a blanket as paramedics knelt down beside him and began looking him over. The Chief released Frank's arm and he quickly moved to his brother's side.

"Joe?" his brother's eyes were closed and his face, blackened by soot, was almost completely covered by the oxygen mask. He saw the paramedic checking Joe's pulse and using a stethoscope to listen to his lungs. When he saw a look of concern pass over the man's face, he blanched until he noticed where the stethoscope was and let out his breath, "He's missing his right lung."

The paramedic smiled back in relief, "Thank goodness for a second there I thought we had some real problems."

Frank took what he said in optimism as he asked hopefully, "Then he's going to be all right?" and the other paramedic, an older Hispanic man nodded his head, "He should be but we want to take him to the hospital to get checked out anyway. He's inhaled a lot of smoke…." Seeing the worried look spread across the young blond girl he added quickly, "it's just a precaution."

A movement beneath them caused everyone to look back down at the patient who was now starting to come to.

_**phx**_

Joe opened his blurry eyes and for a few moments could not remember where he was or why he was lying on the ground. His eyes watered and stung and his lung burned even as he coughed into the oxygen mask that was covering his face.

Above him the worried faces of Frank, Vanessa, Tammy, two paramedics, and other people he did not know glanced down at him. Sighing he shook his head ironically and allowed his eyes to shut again. He was safe. But then he remembered the fire and forced them open again trying to ask his questions but Frank moved to stop him, "Hush…save your breath. You're fine." And then sensing his brother's unspoken questions he continued, "and so is Sean."

Joe's eyes narrowed as he waited for Frank to continue and when his older brother didn't Joe knew. Aldo Prito was dead.

_**phx**_

The next day Frank Hardy stood outside the charred ruins of Mr. Pizza's and felt the hot salty tears burn his cheeks. It had been burned to the ground but they had lost so much more that night then just their favorite hang out.

In all there were three fatalities, two students from Joe's class and Tony's father.

Frank hadn't had a chance to talk to Tony yet but was intending on going over to the Prito's after picking Joe up from the hospital.

His younger brother had been kept in over night to make sure he was all right. And although he had inhaled a lot of smoke, thankfully he was.

Wiping his eyes, he bent over and placed the bouquet of roses he had brought with him in the ground next to small teddy bear that held a sign saying "WE LOVE YOU". He was surprised to notice that there was already quite a memorial growing here. Standing up, he heard the sound of a car door being closed behind him and he watched quietly as other students from his school, laid flowers next to his.

Reluctantly he turned away and saw his father standing quietly behind him.

"I thought I'd find you here", Fenton said softly taking in the anguished, lost look on his son's face. Frank had stayed the night in the room with Joe and only left after his parents arrived. He needed a change of clothing and he wanted to come here.

Fenton had followed his son to make sure he was all right.

"Don't you have a plane to catch?" Frank asked a bit surprised to see his father was still here. Fenton's eyes roved over the burned ruins and he shook his head sadly, "Not today Frank. Today I need to be here with you, your mom and brother…"

His voice trailed off as Frank was overcome with grief. In two steps, Fenton grabbed his oldest son and held him tightly to him as the young man sobbed into his shoulder.

"That's it Frank…let it out…let it all out."

_**phx**_

It was later that day when Joe was discharged and the family headed over to the Prito's. Frank glanced over at his brother to see how he was doing. Joe was taking it very hard and blaming himself for not being able to save Aldo.

There was nothing Frank or anyone could say. Frank knew that. He had learned it the hard way after Iola died. Joe needed to work through this his own way and all Frank could do was be there.

Theresa Salerno, one of Tony's aunts, answered the door and ushered them into the house. Fenton gave her a hug as Laura excused herself to see if there was anything she could to help out.

Tony, although an only child, came from a large extended family and so it was no shock to the Hardy's to find the house full of mourners, friends and family. The boys recognized many of their friends including the Mortons who came over them as soon as they saw them and the Hoopers, with Biff tugging uncomfortably with a starched shirt collar,

"We're going to find Tony", Frank said to his father who nodded and then turned back to talk to John Morton and Ross Hooper.

Frank, Joe, Biff and Chet found Tony out in the back sitting next to the small koi pond that his father had put in the prior summer. Aldo loved the pond so the friends weren't surprised to see him there.

"T -Tony", Joe said his voice breaking with emotion. The young Italian youth stiffened when he heard his friend's voice. When Tony looked up at him, Joe was taken aback by the look on his friend's face. Instead of grief it was filled with anger.

Jumping up Tony yelled at Joe causing him to reflexively step back, "GET AWAY FROM ME…THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT…MY FATHER IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Joe listened to Tony's rant in mounting horror as their friends' watched, too stunned to do anything.

"W-what?" Joe stammered in shock at hearing his own self incrimination being hurled at him by one of his best friends.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! THIS IS ABOUT YOU. ONLY INSTEAD OF YOU GETTING HURT…IT WAS MY DAD…DO YOU HEAR ME…MY DAD!" All Tony's grief and frustration were being channeled into this tirade. Although it was too early to know why the restaurant had been attacked, Tony was sure it was someone who was after Joe. His anger fuelled by the memories of his own kidnapping by the madman, Gerry Moore.

His screaming brought the adults out of the house and Fenton quickly made his way towards his sons. Around him people were murmuring and he caught enough snippets to know Tony wasn't the only one blaming Joe.

_**phx**_

Frank broke through his shock when he saw all the blood drain from his brother's face and when he spoke his voice held a warning note, "Tony. Calm down."

Tony ignored Frank and then before anyone could stop him, he pulled back his fist and hit Joe squarely in the side of the jaw. The sound of the crack silenced the house as Frank and Biff grabbed Tony to subdue him as he made another lunge at Joe.

The blow knocked Joe into Chet who caught him before he fell. Around him everyone was staring and he panicked. Pushing away from Chet, he turned and raced out of the garden. Fenton started to follow him but was stopped when he heard someone behind him mutter, "He should never have come."

Turning around, Fenton Hardy looked the man straight in the eye and said, "Do you know what happened?"

"What?" the man asked nervously not having realized that it was Joe's father who had been standing in front of him when he made the comment.

"Do you know what happened last night? Who started the fire?" Fenton's eyes almost black with concealed rage, made the man nervous. Around him everyone was listening.

"N-no…I don't. But…"

Fenton cut him, "But what? It was a terrible thing that happened…and we all lost something. Some more then others", he looked at Aldo's wife, America, who was now standing next to her son, and then he looked at Tony before turning back to the man, "but for anyone to sit here and try and blame a kid…a kid who almost died trying to save Aldo…well that's just shameful. The only person to blame is the person who lit that bottle and threw it into the restaurant. And until we find that person I will not stand for anyone using my son as a scapegoat…" he raised his voice to make sure everyone heard as he finished, "if I hear anything else like what I just heard, I will have you arrested for harassment or defamation of character."

Frank had never felt prouder of this father as he did now.

_**phx**_

A few sorries were offered as Laura appeared by her husband and gave him a tight squeeze before glancing around and asking quietly, "Where is Joe?"

Frank started to go after his brother when he was stopped by Biff, "Let me go Frank. I'll find him. I think you need to talk to Tony."

"I would but…well I don't think he'd listen to me", Chet admitted. While he and Tony were good friends, Frank had a better way with words.

Taking a deep breath Frank knew they were right. As much as he wanted to rush out and find Joe, he knew that he needed to fix things with Tony first. It would be no good restoring Joe if there might be a problem between them again. So nodding resignedly, he watched Biff hurry through the people and he turned his attention back to Tony.

_**phx**_

Joe actually didn't go very far. As much as he wanted to just run as far away from here as he could, he wanted to pay his last respects to Aldo even more. In the morning he was being buried so this would be the only chance Joe would have to say good-bye.

So he only got as far as the front steps and sat down. And this was where Biff found him a few minutes later.

_**phx**_

America gave Tony a tight squeeze before going back into the house when she saw Frank pull away from his friends and come towards them. Unlike Tony she did not blame Joe. Ironically enough she blamed Aldo. He should have known that it was futile and left the restaurant instead of dying trying to save it.

She offered Frank a soft smile as she gave him a gentle hug and whispered quietly, "Please help my little bambino…he is so angry…and this cannot help him. He needs his friends."

Frank nodded and then waited until she had gone back inside the house before going over to stand by Tony. For a few moments, neither boy spoke until finally Frank said softly, "I know what you're going through."

"You have _no idea_ what I'm going through!" Tony rounded angrily on Frank his eyes flashing with grief and hurt.

Frank spoke calmly knowing one them of had to have a level head, "Yes, I do Antonio Giovanni Prito," his voice lowered a notch at the memories almost a year old but still very painful, "Last summer…I buried my brother."

"But he wasn't dead!" Tony refuted getting even angrier with Joe. His father never even had one near miss but look at how many times Joe had come back from the dead!

"He was dead for two months," Frank reminded him, "and it hurt. Yes, in the end it worked out and we got a second chance…but for two whole months I grieved for him…my little brother was dead. So yes…yes I do know what you're going through…and I blamed myself. I was driving…I should have been able to stop it from happening."

Tony remembered how broken and lost Frank had been after Joe's death. He had withdrawn to the point that they felt like they had lost Frank as well.

Frank continued with difficulty as the memories were still painful…even now, "I remember wondering why Joe had been hurt so badly while I only a few scratches…it was as if my life had ended with his. The nights were sleepless and I found myself wondering how Joe ever went on after Iola…died…" his voice cracked and stopped to regain his composure.

Tony just stared at him lost in his own thoughts. Franks recollections were mirroring his own thoughts. His father was dead…how did you get past that? Never again would he see him in the pizza joint…or at home…or hear his voice on the phone…

_Aldo would never see his grandchildren… _

"And I withdrew from my friends…it was as if seeing them only reminded me more of what I had lost…But I forgot one thing very important…" his dark brown eyes bored deeply into the grieving Italian ones as he intended to drive this point home, "I forgot that I wasn't the only one who lost something that day…my friends did too. And it wasn't right to shut them out…we could have helped each other. Like we can help you."

The other boy started to shake his head although he did not break Frank's gaze and he continued intently, "No don't do it Tony. Don't shut us out…not when we can help each other. I loved your Dad too…we all did. Hell he was like a second father to me and Joe. I know you're angry and hurt and that you're looking for someone to blame….but don't do this Tony. Joe didn't kill your father…you know that."

Tony held back a sob as he looked down at his hands for a long time. His was thinking about what Frank was saying and he knew he was right. Grief was a lonely place.

Then he thought about the look on Joe's face just before he hit him and shaking his head, he started to sob. Once it started, he couldn't hold back. And just as he had done so many times in the past for his own brother, Frank grabbed hold of Tony in a tight hug and held him as he cried.

_**phx**_

"It's not your fault you know. Tony's just hurting", Biff said as he dropped down on the step next to his best friend.

Joe was staring at the street watching as a car went by. A bruise was forming on his jaw from where Tony had hit him and it stood out starkly against his pale face.

"Joe?" Biff was worried when his friend didn't answer.

"Do you know what I'm going to miss the most about Mr. Pizza's?" Joe asked out of the blue as he pulled his attention away from his inner thoughts.

"What?" Biff was just glad he was talking to him.

"Aldo," soundless tears rolled down Joe's cheeks and Biff swallowed the lump in his throat.

_**phx**_

When Tony finally went to talk to Joe, he found him and Biff sitting quietly together. Frank indicated for Biff to give them some space so he got up and followed the dark haired boy back into the house.

Tony sat down in the spot Biff had just left and for a long time neither boy said anything.

And then Tony turned to Joe and waited for the blond teen to look at him. Tortured blue eyes locked onto tortured brown ones as Tony held Joe's gaze desperately needing his friend back. Softly he said, "I'm so sorry Joe…I am…"

Immediately the younger boy grabbed him in a hug holding tight as if to never let go, "It's okay Tony…it's okay…I'm sorry too…sorry I couldn't save him…"

Tony pulled away and stared into his friend's pale face noticing for the first time the mark his anger had left. Reaching out he gently touched the mark before shaking his head and saying gently, "Joe. It's not your place to save everyone. Sometimes it's just their time…Iola…D-Dad…_you aren't superman_."

"Wait a second…I thought I was b-batman…" Joe's voice broke as he tried for some levity and it worked. Tony laughed slightly, "So you are. I guess that makes me Robin. Well bat brain lets say we don our tights and see if we can pull off one more caper. Joe…" Tony hesitated.

"Yes?" Joe said.

"I would really…I think…" Tony was having trouble making his request but Joe waited patiently and finally his friend just spit it out, "would you be a pallbearer?"

Joe was speechless. He had thought that Aldo's family would want to do that but as Tony continued Joe knew he could never say no, "Please."

"Tony…you don't even have to ask. I would be honored. Your Dad meant a lot…to me," Tony grabbed his friend as Joe's voice broke off and for a few moments the two friends stayed together drawing on one another's strength. They had both lost people they cared to too senseless violence and somehow Tony knew that he could make it past this.

Joe had.

But nothing would ever be the same again as their youth and innocence was _forever gone_.

The End.

Phoenix

July 2004

63


End file.
